ace2 as drug target of covid-19 virus treatment, simplified updated review

Background: since its first appearance in december of 2019, regular updates around the world demonstrates that the number of new corona virus 2019 (covid-19) cases are increasing rapidly, indicating that not only does covid-19 exhibit a rapid spread pattern, but human intervention is necessary for its resolution. up until today (27-5-2020) and according to the world health organization (who), the number of confirmed covid-19 cases has surpassed 4.5 million with more than 307, 500 deaths. almost all countries have been affected by covid-19, and resultingly, various drug trials have been conducted, however, a targeted treatment remains to be made accessible to the public. recently, angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ace2) has gained some attention for its discovery as a potential attachment target of covid-19.methods: we reviewed the most recent evidence regarding ace2 distribution and action, the binding mechanism of covid-19 and its correlation to cellular injury, ace2 polymorphisms and its association to fatal covid-19 and susceptibility and, finally, current ace2-based pharmacotherapies against covid-19.results: blocking the ace2 receptor-binding domain (rbd) using a specific ligand can prevent covid-19 from binding, and consequently cellular entry and injury. comparatively, soluble ace2, which has a higher affinity to covid-19, can neutralize covid-19 without affecting the homeostatic function of naturally occurring ace2. lastly, ace2 mutations and their possible effect on the binding activity of covid-19 may enable researchers to identify high-risk groups before they become exposed to covid-19.conclusions: ace2 represents a promising target to attenuate or prevent covid-19 associated cellular injury.