Oral epithelial expression of angiotensin converting enzyme-2: Implications for COVID-19 diagnosis and prognosis

  1. Mythily Srinivasan
  2. Susan L Zunt
  3. Lawrence I Goldblatt

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Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-2 as the host receptor for target cell entry. The extent and distribution of ACE-2 has been associated with the clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID)-19. Here we show by immunofluorescence analysis that the ACE2 is abundantly expressed in oral mucosa, particularly in the surface epithelial cells suggesting that these cells could represent sites of entry for SARS-CoV-2. Further, together with the reports on ACE2 ectodomain shedding, we discuss the rationale for the hypothesis that the ACE-2 measurement in saliva could be a marker for COVID-19 infection during early phase following SARS-CoV-2 exposure.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.06.22.165035: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: Isolation of epithelial cells in saliva: Unstimulated whole saliva was collected by the drooling method for 5-10 minutes into a 15ml chilled centrifuge tube after obtaining informed consent as described20,21.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line AuthenticationAuthentication: The epithelial cell-enriched preparation was then assessed by light microscope for morphology.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    The sections were then incubated with the primary anti-human ACE2 mouse monoclonal antibody (1:500, Catalog number: 66699-1-Ig, Clone No.: 2F12A4, Proteintech, Chicago) overnight at 4°C7.
    anti-human ACE2
    suggested: None
    After washing, the sections were incubated in dark with Alexa Fluor 488 conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (Jackson ImmunoResearch Inc., PA) at room temperature for 2h.
    anti-mouse
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No funding statement was detected.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.06.22.165035v1 on bioRxiv