Table 2 microRNAs targeting angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2)

miR-18a

Inhibiting miR18a partially blocked ACE2 beneficial effect in hypoxia/reoxygenation endothelial cell model.

[99]

miR-21

Ang II-induced miR-21 mediates the inhibition of ACE2 antifibrotic effect in lung fibroblasts.

[100]

miR-29

Increased ACE2 expression in cardiac myocytes/fibroblasts during hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

[101]

miR-98 and miR-223

Downregulation of miR-98 and miR-223 leads to reduced expression of ACE2 in bronchial stem cells during SARS infection.

[102]

miR-125b

High glucose-induced upregulation of miR-125b in renal tubular epithelial cells leads to reduced ACE2 expression during diabetic nephropathy.

[95]

miR-483-3p

AT1R-regulated expression of miR-483-3p regulates the expression of major RAS components, including ACE2.

[94]

miR-421

Enhanced miR-421 expression in uremic patients downregulates ACE2 expression in the leukocytes during chronic kidney disease.

Increased expression of miR-421 in myofibroblasts also downregulates ACE2 expression in thrombosis.

[96, 103]

miR-143

Downregulated miR-143 induced by aerobic exercise training was accompanied by increased ACE2 expression in hypertensive rats.

[104]

miR-4262

During acute lung injury, increased ACE2 expression suppresses miR-4262 leading to apoptotic Bcl2 upregulation and consequently inhibiting apoptosis.

[98]

miR-9-5p and miR-218-5p

Bioinformatic prediction algorithms identify miR-9-5p and miR-218-5p as regulators of SARS-CoV-2 through binding to 3′UTR region of ACE2.

[105]