Hao Meng, Zhiying Liao, Yanting Ji, Dong Wang, Yang Han, Chaolin Huang, Xujuan Hu, Jingyi Chen, Hengrui Zhang, Zonghong Li, Changliang Wang, Hui Sun, Jiaqi Sun, Lihua Chen, Jiaxiang Yin, Jincun Zhao, Tao Xu, Huisheng Liu
The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a primary cell surface viral binding receptor for SARS-CoV-2, so finding new regulatory molecules to modulate ACE2 expression levels is a promising strategy against COVID-19. In the current study, we utilized islet organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), animal models and COVID-19 patients to discover that fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) enhances ACE2 expression within the islets, facilitating SARS-CoV-2 infection and resulting in impaired insulin secretion...
April 23, 2024: Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy