ACE2 and infection: To better contextualize the ACE2-dependent infection we observed with the suboptimal Kozak ACE2 construct, we compared ACE2 abundance levels between unmodified HEK 293T cells, which are generally considered non-permissive to SARS-CoV-2 entry, with Vero E6 cells, which are widely considered permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and are commonly used to propagate the virus in BSL3 laboratories [28].