• Background strain: Sprague Dawley
• Genotyping of lung tissue from heterozygous and homozygous females and hemizygous males confirmed expression of the human ACE2 gene and a lack (or reduction) of rat Ace2 gene expression.
  
  

Availability: Live colony
Zygosity genotype: Homozygous and hemizygous

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an integral membrane zinc metalloprotease that is highly expressed in several human tissues including the gastrointestinal tract, liver, gallbladder, kidney, urinary bladder, testes, placenta and fallopian tube. It is also expressed at more moderate levels in the lungs and pancreas. ACE2 serves as the primary receptor for cell entry for the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Binding of the coronavirus spike (S) protein to ACE2 initiates fusion of the cell and viral membranes for cell entry. ACE2-S protein binding is the critical initial step for coronavirus infection and is being investigated as a potential target for anti-viral therapeutics.

ACE2 is also a key enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Activation of the RAS pathway results in increased sodium and water retention, which leads to elevated blood volume and arterial pressure. ACE2 regulates RAS activity by cleaving angiotensin I and II into angiotensin 1-9 and angiotensin 1-7, respectively. As such, ACE2 is a common target for the treatment of hypertension.

The hACE2 knockin rat model was generated through CRISPR-based technology. A codon optimized human ACE2 cDNA expression cassette was integrated into the rat Ace2 gene, causing the rat Ace2 gene promoter and other regulatory elements to drive expression of the human ACE2 protein while terminating rat Ace2 gene expression.