Title
Well-differentiated liver cancers reveal the potential link between ACE2 dysfunction and metabolic breakdown
Date Issued
01 December 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Desquilles L.
Ghukasyan G.
Mouchet N.
Landreau C.
Corlu A.
Clément B.
Turlin B.
Désert R.
Musso O.
University of Rennes
Publisher(s)
Nature Research
Abstract
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the receptor of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) is a coreceptor. Abnormal hepatic function in COVID-19 suggests specific or bystander liver disease. Because liver cancer cells express the ACE2 viral receptor, they are widely used as models of SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression and localization in human liver cancers and in non-tumor livers. We studied ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in transcriptomic datasets totaling 1503 liver cancers, followed by high-resolution confocal multiplex immunohistochemistry and quantitative image analysis of a 41-HCC tissue microarray. In cancers, we detected ACE2 and TMPRSS2 at the biliary pole of tumor hepatocytes. In whole mount sections of five normal liver samples, we identified ACE2 in hepatocyte’s bile canaliculi, biliary epithelium, sinusoidal and capillary endothelial cells. Tumors carrying mutated β-catenin showed ACE2 DNA hypomethylation and higher mRNA and protein expression, consistently with predicted β-catenin response sites in the ACE2 promoter. Finally, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 co-expression networks highlighted hepatocyte-specific functions, oxidative stress and inflammation, suggesting a link between inflammation, ACE2 dysfunction and metabolic breakdown.
Volume
12
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Oncología
Gastroenterología, Hepatología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85123974017
PubMed ID
Source
Scientific Reports
ISSN of the container
20452322
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus