Since understanding molecular mechanisms of
SARS-CoV-2 infection MESHD is extremely important for developing effective therapies against
COVID-19 MESHD, we focused on the internalization mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 via
ACE2 HGNC. Although cigarette smoke is generally believed to be harmful to the pathogenesis of
COVID-19 MESHD, cigarette smoke extract (CSE) treatments were surprisingly found to suppress the expression of
ACE2 HGNC in HepG2 cells. We thus tried to clarify the mechanism of CSE effects on expression of
ACE2 HGNC in mammalian cells. Because RNA-seq analysis suggested that suppressive effects on
ACE2 HGNC might be inversely correlated with induction of the genes regulated by
aryl hydrocarbon receptor HGNC (
AHR MESHD AHR HGNC), the
AHR MESHD AHR HGNC agonists 6-formylindolo(3,2-b)carbazole (FICZ) and omeprazole (
OMP HGNC) were tested to assess whether those treatments affected
ACE2 HGNC expression. Both FICZ and
OMP HGNC clearly suppressed
ACE2 HGNC expression in a dose-dependent manner along with inducing
CYP1A1 HGNC. Knock-down experiments indicated a reduction of
ACE2 HGNC by FICZ treatment in an
AHR HGNC-dependent manner. Finally, treatments of
AHR MESHD agonists inhibited
SARS-CoV-2 infection MESHD into Vero E6 cells as determined with immunoblotting analyses detecting SARS-CoV-2 specific
nucleocapsid protein PROTEIN. We here demonstrate that treatment with
AHR HGNC AHR MESHD agonists, including CSE, FICZ, and
OMP HGNC, decreases expression of
ACE2 HGNC via
AHR MESHD AHR HGNC activation, resulting in suppression of
SARS-CoV-2 infection MESHD in mammalian cells.
