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Emslander Q, Krey K, Hamad S, Maidl S, Oubraham L, Hesse J, Henrici A, Austen K, Mergner J, Grass V, Pichlmair A. MDM2 Influences ACE2 Stability and SARS-CoV-2 Uptake. Viruses 2023; 15:1763. [PMID: 37632105 PMCID: PMC10459000 DOI: 10.3390/v15081763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the central entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2. However, surprisingly little is known about the effects of host regulators on ACE2 localization, expression, and the associated influence on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we identify that ACE2 expression levels are regulated by the E3 ligase MDM2 and that MDM2 levels indirectly influence infection with SARS-CoV-2. Genetic depletion of MDM2 elevated ACE2 expression levels, which strongly promoted infection with all SARS-CoV-2 isolates tested. SARS-CoV-2 spike-pseudotyped viruses and the uptake of non-replication-competent virus-like particles showed that MDM2 affects the viral uptake process. MDM2 ubiquitinates Lysine 788 of ACE2 to induce proteasomal degradation, and degradation of this residue led to higher ACE2 expression levels and superior virus particle uptake. Our study illustrates that cellular regulators of ACE2 stability, such as MDM2, play an important role in defining the infection capabilities of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quirin Emslander
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Karsten Krey
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Sabri Hamad
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Susanne Maidl
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Lila Oubraham
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Joshua Hesse
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Alexander Henrici
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Katharina Austen
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Julia Mergner
- BayBioMS@MRI—Bavarian Center for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry at Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
| | - Vincent Grass
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
| | - Andreas Pichlmair
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany (S.H.)
- German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner site Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
- Center of Immunology of Viral Infection (CiViA), Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
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