[Kay (OP)]

Several tissues/cells in the body express genes for the ACE2 enzyme, including some that seem unlikely targets for a respiratory virus, such as testicular Leydig/Sertoli cells and ovarian tissue. Do cells that express the enzyme likely to have the surface ACE2 receptor for SARS-CoV-2? Is there a theoretical possibility that such cells could be susceptible to viral infection?

[chris]

Very good question. Short answer - we don't know, but I'd say the potential is there. We know that in some cases of severe infection the virus does spread beyond the respiratory tract and can access other tissues. There are PM reports of hearts showing inflammatory responses, and some CNS involvement too.

At the moment I don't believe that trophoblast expresses receptors and hence I think transplacental transmission is unlikely (I was having this conversation yesterday in fact, stimulated by the case of the lady who died late in pregnancy and delivered by caesarian). As to other tissues, and specifically gonadal tissue, I really don't know the likely impact.

My instinct would be that, if these tissues were infected, the virus would replicate and destroy the infected cells, causing inflammation that would likely impair further cell division / maturation, at least while it was on-going. It would probably not cause genetic aberration though, because it's not that sort of virus.