Fig. 5.

Schematic representation of different ACE2 gene polymorphisms in regulatory, non-coding, and coding regions with possible effects on SARS-CoV-2 binding, internalization, and ACE2 expression levels, respectively. The human ACE2 gene includes 5′UTR, 3′UTR, intronic, 18 exogenic regions (E1-E18), and five novel exogenic regions (N1-N5) participating in various alternative splicing. The polymorphisms contribute to ACE2 variations. Solid and dashed lines illustrate introns and possible splicing patterns, respectively. Abbreviations: ACE2; Angiotensin I converting enzyme 2, E; Exon, N; Novel exon, NTS; nucleotides, TF; Transcription factor, UTR; Untranslated Region.