Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Virus S1 Protein binding to ACE2 on ENaC Regulators in Cultured Adult Human Fungiform (HBO) Taste Cells| Chapter 6 | Medical Science: Recent Advances and Applications Vol. 8

 

Early, but often prolonged, symptoms of COVID-19 infection are the loss of taste, smell, and chemesthesis. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein contains two subunits, S1 and S2. S1 contains a receptor-binding domain, which is responsible for recognizing and binding to the ACE2 receptor, a component of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). We hypothesize that S1 binding to ACE2 receptor can alter the balance between the two major RAAS pathways ACE1/Ang II/AT1R and ACE2/Ang-(1–7)/MASR1, leading to changes in ENaC expression and responses to NaCl in salt-sensing human fungiform taste cells. To test this hypothesis, we used molecular techniques to demonstrate that G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER1), transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) and components of RAAS are expressed in \(\delta\)-ENaC-positive cultured adult human fungiform (HBO) taste cells. Our results suggest that RAAS components function in a complex with ENaC and TRPV1 to modulate salt sensing and thus salt intake in humans. Our results further show that the binding of a mutated S1 protein to ACE2 decreases ACE2 expression in HBO cells.

 

Author(s) Details

Mehmet Hakan Özdener
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

 

Sunila Mahavadi
Department of Biology, Center for Biomedical Research, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA.

 

Shobha Mummalaneni
Department of Cellular, Molecular, and Genetic Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.

 

Vijay Lyall
Department of Cellular, Molecular, and Genetic Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond, VA 23298, USA.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/msraa/v8/5835