The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
scRNA-seq Profiling of Human Testes Reveals the Presence of the ACE2 Receptor, A Target for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli Cells
Open accessAbstract
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. SARS-CoV-2 shares both high sequence similarity and the use of the same cell entry receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Several studies have provided bioinformatic evidence of potential routes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive and urinary systems. However, whether the reproductive system is a potential target of SARS-CoV-2 infection has not yet been determined. Here, we investigate the expression pattern of ACE2 in adult human testes at the level of single-cell transcriptomes. The results indicate that ACE2 is predominantly enriched in spermatogonia and Leydig and Sertoli cells. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) indicates that Gene Ontology (GO) categories associated with viral reproduction and transmission are highly enriched in ACE2-positive spermatogonia, while male gamete generation related terms are downregulated. Cell–cell junction and immunity-related GO terms are increased in ACE2-positive Leydig and Sertoli cells, but mitochondria and reproduction-related GO terms are decreased. These findings provide evidence that the human testis is a potential target of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which may have significant impact on our understanding of the pathophysiology of this rapidly spreading disease.
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Cites
Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China
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Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 is a functional receptor for the SARS coronavirus
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“Until now, no effective drugs are clinically approved for these etiologic agents, but it appears that they share the same ACE2 receptor for entry into the host cells for reproduction and transmission [5,7,8].”
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Specific ACE2 Expression in Cholangiocytes May Cause Liver Damage After 2019-nCoV Infection
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Single-Cell RNA Expression Profiling of ACE2, the Receptor of SARS-CoV-2
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Single-cell RNA expression profiling of ACE2, the receptor of SARS-CoV-2
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Cited by
Beyerstedt, S., Casaro, E. B., & Rangel, É. B. (2021) · European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1007/s10096-020-04138-6 · Cited by 897
Molecular mechanism of interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and host cells and interventional therapy
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New understanding of the damage of SARS-CoV-2 infection outside the respiratory system
Zhang, Y., Geng, X., Tan, Y., Li, Q., Xu, C., Xu, J., Hao, L., Zeng, Z., Luo, X., Liu, F., et al. (2020) · Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110195 · Cited by 319
Impaired spermatogenesis in COVID-19 patients
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Body Localization of ACE-2: On the Trail of the Keyhole of SARS-CoV-2
Salamanna, F., Maglio, M., Landini, M. P., & Fini, M. (2020) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.594495 · Cited by 281
Metadata
- Authors
- Wang, Z., & Xu, X.
- Venue
- Cells
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-04-09
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 920
- ISSN
- 2073-4409 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3007622107
- Cited by
- 615
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 98.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: scRNA-seq Profiling of Human Testes Reveals the Presence of the ACE2 Receptor, A Target for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli Cells. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.3390/cells9040920
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- Wang, Z., & Xu, X. (2020). scRNA-seq Profiling of Human Testes Reveals the Presence of the ACE2 Receptor, A Target for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli Cells. Cells. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9040920
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