Fig. 1

Illustration of the main cell signaling axes [i.e., ACE/ANGII/AT1R and ACE2/ANG(1–7)/MASR] and of other cellular components being involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection (i.e., TMPRSS2 or furin), endocytosis and replication. 1. SARS-CoV-2 (extracellular); 2. binding to ACE2; 3. TMPRSS2 (or FURIN) priming; 4. clathrin-mediated endocytosis (entry to early and acidic late -microtubule bound- endosomes) - 4* denotes endosomal compartments during exocytosis; 5, 6. uncoating, genomic RNA release and viral-protein synthesis in free and endoplasmic reticulum-attached ribosomes; 7. vesicle-mediated exocytosis; 8. antigen presentation by endocytic compartments (MHC II) and proteasomes (MHC I); 9. immune cell attraction and development of immunity or elimination of infected cells. MHC II/MHC I, Major Histocompatibility Complex class II, I. ┤inhibition, → induction