Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Oct 29;15:770387. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.770387

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2021 Sfera, Osorio, Rahman, Zapata-Martín del Campo, Maldonado, Jafri, Cummings, Maurer and Kozlakidis.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

Under normal circumstances, tPA facilitates conversion of plasminogen to plasmin. PAI-1 is a tPA inhibitor that downregulates plasmin, a protein necessary for BDNF maturation. The SARS-CoV-2 interaction with ACE-2, increases ANG II inducing EC senescence. Senescent ECs upregulate PAI-1, lowering tPA and plasmin levels. SARS-CoV-2 antigen S2 usurps furin and plasmin (not shown), disrupting the conversion of pro-BDNF into BDNF, that in return impairs synaptic plasticity, predisposing to PTSD. Upregulated pro-BDNF increases PTSD vulnerability further.