ANGIOTENSIN CONVERTING ENZYME 2 (ACE2) AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTICS IN CORONA VIRUS DISEASE

Coronaviruses infecting humans are mainly responsible for respiratory diseases and in present scenario SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a potential threat to global public health. Due to pandemic Covid 19 there is great loss of human lives and it becomes essential to search for treatments for Covid-19. So many researchers are focusing on identification of specific proteins or receptors which can help to understand the mechanism of infection in human cells by the virus. Co V -2 is single-strand, positive-sense, RNA virus. The viral envelope consists of viral membrane (M), envelope (E), and spike (S) structural proteins. Spike (S) proteins are large transmembrane glycoproteins that help in receptor association, membrane fusion, and viral entry. The important receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is ACE2 that allows it to infect the cell and provides the entry point for the coronavirus. Normally ACE2 is known as Angiotensin converting enzyme which converts the Angiotensin-II into other compounds and regulates the blood pressure, wound healing and inflammation, by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) pathway. In the lungs ACE2 has numerous physiological functions, and are protective against lung injury. It has been already in use for treating cardiovascular diseases and in future ACE2 targeted methods could be employed for the treatment of COVID-19 disease. The recombinant fusion protein showed potent binding to receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2.

In this review article the potential of ACE2 receptor as therapeutic agent against Covid 19 virus has been discussed.