{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T15:31:19Z","timestamp":1784907079301,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]],"date-time":"2024-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721865600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province\/the Fujian Provincial Health Technology Project","award":["2020D038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020D038"]}]},{"name":"Xiamen University Nanqiang Outstanding Talents Program","award":["2020D038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020D038"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of the study was to investigate the expression levels of ACE2 in ocular glands and to investigate the effect of S protein on them. Male C57BL\/6J mice were used for the experiments. The expression levels of ACE2 are highest in the Meibomian glands, followed by the conjunctiva, the cornea, and the lacrimal glands. Co-immunoprecipitation assays confirmed direct binding between ACE2 and S protein in ocular surface epithelia and Meibomian glands. CD45+ cell infiltration was found in the S protein treatment group, which was accompanied by upregulation of inflammation-related cytokines. There was also prominent cell apoptosis in the S protein treatment group. In conclusion, not only the cornea and the conjunctiva, but also the Meibomian glands express ACE2, and S protein could induce ocular surface epithelial cell and Meibomian gland cell inflammation and apoptosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases12080169","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,26]],"date-time":"2024-07-26T06:17:44Z","timestamp":1721974664000},"page":"169","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Could Ocular Glands Be Infected by SARS-CoV-2?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9815-9623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinghua","family":"Bu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Xiang\u2019an Hospital of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye Institute of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4578-9121","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Minjie","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Xiang\u2019an Hospital of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye Institute of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rongrong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Xiang\u2019an Hospital of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye Institute of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Le","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Xiang\u2019an Hospital of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye Institute of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenzong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhongshan Hospital (Xiamen), Fudan University, Xiamen 361006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhongshan Hospital (Xiamen), Fudan University, Xiamen 361006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2202","DOI":"10.1172\/JCI137647","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2: A storm is raging","volume":"130","author":"Pedersen","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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