Table 1.
Transcriptional and translational regulators of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.
| Class | Gene name | Condition | System | Impact on ACE2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcription factor | Hepatic nuclear factor 1 (HNF1), comprising HNF1α and HNF1β | Healthy | In vivo in insulin-producing cells, including pancreatic β cells and insulinoma cells | Increase ACE2 mRNA expression level (40, 41) |
| HNF4α | Healthy | In vivo in the liver of mice | Target ACE2 and affect its mRNA expression level (42) | |
| Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), comprising HIF-1α and HIF-1β | Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension | In vivo in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells | Target ACE2 and indirectly decrease ACE2 mRNA expression level for the accumulation of Ang II catalyzed by ACE (43, 44) | |
| Epigenetic regulation | Histone deacetylase: silent information regulator T1 | Hypoxic | In vivo in Huh7 cells | Bound to the ACE2 promoter and increase ACE2 mRNA expression level (45) |
| Histone H3 acetylation | Atherosclerosis | In the heart of rabbits with high-cholesterol diet-induced atherosclerosis treated with atorvastatin | Bound to the ACE2 promoter and increase ACE2 mRNA expression level (46) | |
| MicroRNAs: miR-143 | Left ventricular hypertrophy | In aerobic exercise training rats | Increase ACE2 mRNA expression and protein level (47) | |
| MicroRNAs: miR-421 | Uremic | Human | Target leucocytic ACE2 and decrease its transcripts (48) | |
| Thrombosis | In both primary cardiac myofibroblasts and transformed cells | Decrease ACE2 protein level (49) | ||
| Other factors | Transforming growth factor-β | High-glucose-cultured | In NRK-52E cells | Decrease ACE2 mRNA and protein level (50) |
| Nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) | Nrf2 knockout | In Akita mice renal proximal tubule cells | Increase ACE2 expression (51) | |
| Curcumin | Myocardial fibrosis | In male Sprague-Dawley rats | Increase ACE2 protein level (52) | |
| Rosiglitazone: a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ligand | Hypertension | In vivo in male Wistar rats | Increase ACE2 protein level (53) | |
| Chinese medicine | Yinhenhao decoction | Hepatic fibrogenesis | In vivo in the bile duct ligation rat liver model | Increase ACE2 protein level (54) |
| Sini decoction | Acute lung injury | In vivo in rats | Increase ACE2 protein level (55) | |
| Diminazene aceturate | Asthma | In vivo in male Wistar rats | Increase ACE2 protein level (56) |