TMPRSS2 and COVID-19: Serendipity or Opportunity for Intervention?

Konrad H StopsackLorelei A MucciEmmanuel S AntonarakisPeter S NelsonPhilip W Kantoff

Published in: Cancer discovery (2020)

TMPRSS2 is both the most frequently altered gene in primary prostate cancer and a critical factor enabling cellular infection by coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The modulation of its expression by sex steroids could contribute to the male predominance of severe infections, and given that TMPRSS2 has no known indispensable functions, and inhibitors are available, it is an appealing target for prevention or treatment of respiratory viral infections.

Keyphrases

sars cov
prostate cancer
respiratory syndrome coronavirus
poor prognosis
randomized controlled trial
coronavirus disease
early onset
copy number
genome wide
dna methylation
genome wide identification
long non coding rna
smoking cessation