Biomedicines . miR-98 Regulates TMPRSS2 Expression in Human Endothelial Cells: Key Implications for COVID-19

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Biomedicines


. 2020 Oct 30;8(11):E462.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8110462.
miR-98 Regulates TMPRSS2 Expression in Human Endothelial Cells: Key Implications for COVID-19


Alessandro Matarese ^{1 2} , Jessica Gambardella ^{1 3 4} , Celestino Sardu ^{5 6} , Gaetano Santulli ^{1 3 4}



Affiliations

• PMID: 33143053
• DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines8110462

Abstract

The two main co-factors needed by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to enter human cells are angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2). Here, we focused on the study of microRNAs that specifically target TMPRSS2. Through a bioinformatic approach, we identified miR-98-5p as a suitable candidate. Since we and others have shown that endothelial cells play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we mechanistically validated miR-98-5p as a regulator of TMPRSS2 transcription in two different human endothelial cell types, derived from the lung and from the umbilical vein. Taken together, our findings indicate that TMPRSS2 represents a valid target in COVID-19 treatment, which may be achieved by specific non-coding-RNA approaches.

Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; HMVEC-L; HUVEC; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; endothelium; epigenetics; lung; miR-98-5p; microRNA; non-coding RNA.