Meet ACE2!

ACE2 is short for Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, because it "converts" the peptide angiotensin II into angiotensin. Angiotensin II tells your body's blood vessels to get smaller which raises blood pressure, but angiotensin tells them to get larger and lowers blood pressure. In this way, ACE2's job is to lower blood pressure. ACE2 lives in the …

Meet Spike!

Spike is a membrane protein found on the surface of coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19). Spike is responsible for bringing the virus inside of the host cell. Both the virus and the host cell are covered in a membrane, and Spike fuses the two membranes together so that viral contents can enter …