Table 4.
ACE2 gene and protein expression levels in various organs, cells, and tissues in human body.
(Source: IHC and microarray data of normal cells and cancer cell expression data obtained from: https://www.proteinatlas.org/about/download; Gene Card RNA, microarray and protein data obtained from: (GCID: GC0XM015562))
| Tissues/organs | Cells | Gene expression | Protein expression | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human Protein Atlas (based on IHC and microarray) | Gene card RNA-Seq expression | Gene card Microarray data | Gene card | Human Protein Atlas Cancer cell expression | ||
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | − | ++ | NA | − | NA |
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | + | + | NA | − | NA |
| Adrenal cortex | NA | NA | + | |||
| Amniocyte | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Amygdala | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | − | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Lymphoid tissue | NA | |||||
| Artery | – | NA | + | NA | NA | NA |
| Blood | Serum | NA | + | NA | − | NA |
| Plasma | ||||||
| Neutrophil | ||||||
| Platelets | ||||||
| Bone | Skeletal muscle (myosites) | NA | + | NA | − | NA |
| Synovial fluid | NA | NA | ||||
| Bone marrow hematopoietic cells | − | |||||
| Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells | NA | |||||
| Bone marrow stromal cells | ||||||
| Brain | – | NA | + | NA | − | NA |
| Breast | Adipocytes | − | + | NA | − | − |
| Glandular cells | ||||||
| Myoepithelial cells | ||||||
| Milk | NA | NA | ||||
| Cardia | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Caudate | Glial cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Neuronal cells | ||||||
| Cerebellum | Cells in granular layer | − | + | NA | NA | NA |
| Cells in molecular layer | ||||||
| Purkinje cells | ||||||
| Cerebellar peduncles | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Cerebral cortex | Endothelial cells | − | + | NA | − | NA |
| Glial cells | ||||||
| Neuronal cells | ||||||
| Neuropil | ||||||
| Cerebrospinal fluid | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Cervix (uterine) | Glandular cells | − | + | NA | − | − |
| Squamous epithelial cells | − | |||||
| Cervix | NA | |||||
| Endometrial stromal cells | − | − | ||||
| Endometrial glandular cells | − | |||||
| Uterus corpus | NA | + | NA | NA | ||
| Ciliary ganglion (eyes) | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Cingulate cortex | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Colon | Glandular cells | + | ++ | NA | − | + |
| Endothelial cells | − | |||||
| Peripheral nerve/ganglion | − | |||||
| Colon muscle | NA | |||||
| Caudate nucleus | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Dorsal root ganglion | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Endothelial | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Epididymis | Glandular cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Esophagus | Squamous epithelial cells | − | + | N A | − | NA |
| Fetal brain | – | NA | NA | + | − | NA |
| Fetal gut | – | NA | NA | NA | ++ | NA |
| Fetal heart | – | NA | NA | NA | + | NA |
| Fetal liver | – | NA | NA | + | − | NA |
| Fetal lung | – | NA | NA | + | − | NA |
| Fetal ovary | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Fetal testis | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Fetal thyroid | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Fallopian tube | Glandular cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Gallbladder | Glandular cells | +++ | + | NA | + | NA |
| Globus pallidus | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Hair follicle | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Head an neck | – | NA | NA | NA | NA | − |
| Heart | Cardiac myocytes | − | ++ | + | ++ | NA |
| Atrioventricular node cells | NA | + | ||||
| Heart muscle | − | NA | ||||
| Hippocampus | Glial cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Neuronal cells | NA | NA | ||||
| Hypothalamus | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Immune cells | Myeloid | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Dendritic cells | ||||||
| Monocytes | − | |||||
| NK Cells | ||||||
| T CD4+ cells | ||||||
| T CD8+ cells | ||||||
| B-cells | ||||||
| Kidney | Cells in tubules | +++ | ++ | NA | ++ | +++ |
| Cells in glomeruli | − | |||||
| Liver | Bile duct cells | − | + | NA | − | + |
| Hepatocytes | ||||||
| Liver secratome | NA | |||||
| Lung | Bronchial epithelium | NA | + | + | − | − |
| Respiratory epithelial cells | − | NA | ||||
| Macrophages | ||||||
| Pneumocytes | ||||||
| Lung alveolar lavage | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Lymph | Germinal center cells | − | + | NA | − | − |
| Lymph node | ||||||
| Non-germinal center cells | ||||||
| Medulla oblongata | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Nasopharynx | Respiratory epithelial cells | − | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Occipital lobe (brain) | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Olfactory bulb | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Oral mucosa | Squamous epithelial cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Oral epithelium | NA | NA | − | NA | ||
| Ovary | Follicle cells | − | + | NA | +++ | − |
| Ovarian stroma cells | ||||||
| Pancreas | Exocrine Glandular Cells | − | + | NA | NA | − |
| Islets of langerhans | + | − | ||||
| Pancreatic juice | NA | NA | +++ | |||
| Parathyroid gland | Glandular cells | − | NA | NA | NA | |
| Parietal lobe (brain) | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Pineal gland | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Pituitary | – | NA | + | + | NA | NA |
| Placenta | Decidual cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Trophoblastic cells | ||||||
| Pons | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Prefrontal cortex | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Prostate | Glandular cells | − | + | NA | − | − |
| Rectum | Glandular cells | + | NA | NA | − | + |
| Retina (eyes) | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
| Salivary gland | Glandular cells | − | + | NA | − | NA |
| Saliva | NA | NA | ||||
| Seminal vesicle | Glandular cells | + | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Skin | Fibroblasts | − | NA | NA | − | − |
| Keratinocytes | ||||||
| Langerhans | ||||||
| Melanocytes | ||||||
| Epidermal cells | ||||||
| Small intestine | Glandular cells | +++ | +++ | NA | NA | NA |
| Duodenal glandular cells | ||||||
| Smooth muscle | Smooth muscle cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Soft tissue | Chondrocytes | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Fibroblasts | ||||||
| Peripheral nerve | ||||||
| Fibroblasts | ||||||
| Peripheral nerve | ||||||
| Spinal chord | – | NA | + | NA | − | NA |
| Spleen | Cells in red pulp | − | + | NA | − | NA |
| Cells in white pulp | ||||||
| Stomach | Glandular cells | − | + | NA | − | + |
| Glandular cells | ||||||
| Subthalamic nucleus | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Sup cervical ganglion | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Temporal lobe (brain) | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Testis | Cells in seminiferous ducts | +++ | +++ | + | + | − |
| Leydig cells | ||||||
| Interstitial cells | NA | +++ | ||||
| Germ cells | + | |||||
| Thalamus | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Thyroid gland | Glandular cells | − | + | NA | − | − |
| Tibial nerve | – | NA | + | NA | NA | NA |
| Tongue | – | NA | NA | + | − | NA |
| Tonsil | Germinal center cells | − | NA | + | − | NA |
| Non-germinal center cells | ||||||
| Squamous epithelial cells | ||||||
| Trachea | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Trigeminal ganglion | – | NA | NA | + | NA | NA |
| Urinary bladder | Urothelial cells | − | NA | NA | − | + |
| urine | – | NA | NA | NA | +++ | NA |
| Vagina | Squamous epithelial cells | − | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Vitrious humor | – | NA | NA | NA | − | NA |
IHC immunohistochemistry, RNA-Seq RNA sequencing, NA not available, +++: highest expression, ++: moderate expression, +: lower expression; −: no/negative expression