Figure 1.

Imatinib inhibited the reporter activity driven by the ACE2 promoter. (A) Schematic illustration of the ACE2-luc reporter construct (ACE2(−1119)-luc). (B) The reporter plasmid ACE2(−1119)-luc or the backbone control vector (pGL2) was transfected into 293T cells, followed by treatments with the indicated drugs for 24 h with doses of gefitinib (2.5 μM), erlotinib (2.5 μM), lapatinib (2.5 μM), or imatinib (2.5 μM). The luciferase activity was then measured and plotted. Bars, standard deviation; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; the p-values were determined by Student’s t-test. (C) Beas 2B cells were transfected with ACE2(−1119)-luc, treated with and without imatinib (at 10 μM for 24 h), followed by the analysis of luciferase activities as described in (B). Bars, standard deviation; * p < 0.05 determined by Student’s t-test.