Angiotensin is an oligopeptide in the blood that causes vasoconstriction, increased blood pressure, and release of aldosterone from the adrenal cortex. It is a powerful dipsogen. It is derived from the precursor molecule angiotensinogen, a serum globulin produced in the liver. It plays an important role in the renin-angiotensin system.
Heart damage is prevalent in COVID-19 patients, leading many to doubt how the virus impacts the heart.
University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers have used cryo-electron microscopy to identify the first complete structures of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) (cryo-EM). A protein that controls blood pressure, ACE, is essential for maintaining good heart health.
Recently scientists pinpointed 182 genes likely responsible for kidney function—most of which can be targeted with existing drugs.
Researchers have discovered a possible connection between increased vulnerability to COVID-19 infection and exposure to organophosphate pesticides.
Bioengineering scientists have now detected a formerly unknown interaction between the spike (or “S”) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and receptors in human cells.
COVID-19 patients who also suffer from high blood pressure are more likely to fall severely ill with the disease, which also leaves them at greater risk of death.
In COVID-19 patients with severe lung disease, targeting the endothelial cells—that is, cells comprising the blood vessel wall, which control oxygen exchange between the bloodstream and airways—may be an innovative strategy to restore normal function of the lungs.
Molecular markers in the blood shown to be predictive of severe COVID-19 outcomes resulting from SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection have been identified in a study by a Chinese research team.
A recent paper examines a mutation of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that has been observed to have arisen independently twice.
Like a key, SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - attaches to specific molecules on the host cell surface, opening gateways into the cell interior.
People with diabetes -- especially the 20 to 40 percent with diabetic kidney disease -- are among the most at risk for serious complications and death from COVID-19.
The virus wreaking havoc on our lives is an efficient infection machine. Comprised of only 29 proteins (compared to our 400,000), with a genome 1/200,000 the size of ours, SARS-CoV-2 is expertly evolved to trick our cells to contribute its machinery to assist in its propagation.
SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to enter cells by interaction with ACE2, which is found on the surface of cells in the lungs and throughout the body.
With a surge in the COVID-19 cases, scientists are working actively to develop therapies and vaccines to impede SARS-CoV-2.
A team of scientists from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., has developed a new tool that mimics how SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- infects a cell, information that could potentially speed the search for treatments against the disease.
Army scientists have developed the first lethal mouse model of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using mice that were genetically engineered to express the human ACE2 gene--a key mechanism by which the virus enters human cells.
A novel receptor protein that binds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prevents it from entering cells may hold promise for treating COVID-19 and other coronavirus-related diseases, according to research published online Aug. 4 in the journal SCIENCE.
A research team from the HSE University has designed innovative methods for controlling the expression of TMPRSS2 and ACE2 enzymes.
Analyses of lung fluid cells from COVID-19 patients conducted on a supercomputer point to patterns that may explain the body's response to SARS-CoV-2.
An interventional therapy aimed at improving survival chances and reducing the need for critical care treatment due to COVID-19 is being investigated by physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.