Fig. 5

Expression of ACE2 in primary cultured brain cells. A Schematic elucidation of the structure of ACE2 protein. PD: peptidase domain, RBD: receptor-binding domain, TM: transmembrane domain, CYT: cytosolic domain, dACE2: truncated ACE2. ACE2-P1 or ACE2-P2: isoform-specific primers designed for detecting both full-length and dACE2 or the full-length ACE2 only, respectively. aa: amino acid. B–C Real-time PCR detection of ACE2 mRNA expression (B) and western blot detection of ACE2 protein expression (C) in astrocytes (AST), neurons (NEU) and brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC). Real-time PCR and western blot assays were done in triplicate. Values are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 3. ***: p < 0.001