Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)-induced kinase 1 ( Pink1) is regarded as a tumor suppressor and plays an important role in cancer cell biology, while relatively few studies have examined Pink1 in breast cancer, especially in vivo. The aims of this study were to investigate Pink1 expression in different subtypes of breast cancer tissues and cell lines and explore the effect of Pink1 protein on breast cancer. In these experiments, Pink1 expression was investigated using the tissue microarray immunohistochemistry (TMA-IHC) method in 150 samples of breast cancer tissues with different subtypes, and strong staining of Pink1 was significantly correlated with the histological grade of breast cancer ( p = 0.015). In addition, Pink1 messenger RNA (mRNA) displayed much higher expression levels in breast cancer cell lines than in MCF-10A breast epithelial cells. Moreover, proteomic data obtained by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) showed that Pink1 deletion induced a distinct proteomic profile in MDA-MB-231 cells, and enrichment analysis showed that the differential proteins were concentrated mainly in energy metabolism-related pathways. Moreover, Seahorse XF analysis showed that Pink1 knockout reduced the glycolytic ability of MDA-MB-231 cells. Our findings indicated that Pink1 may be an indicator of malignancy in breast cancer and that it presents oncogenic properties in breast cancer, which raises another perspective for understanding the regulatory role of Pink1 in breast cancer.

Since the end of 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) caused by the novel coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) posed a serious threat to human health and life. Therefore, the discovery of drugs that can effectively prevent and treat COVID‐19 is urgently warranted. In this article, the role and significance of angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 in drug development and the treatment of COVID‐19 are discussed. It was found that the binding of ACE2 to SARS‐CoV‐2‐RBD involved two core regions (31st and 353rd lysine) and 20 amino acids of the ACE2 protein. The mutation of these amino acids could lead to a great change of the binding ability of ACE2 and SARS‐CoV‐2‐RBD. This information was important for us to find more efficient ACE2 peptides to block the 2019‐nCoV infection. So during this study, we summarized the role of ACE2 in the regulation of 2019‐nCoV infection and stress, and hypothesized that the development and optimization of ACE2 peptide can effectively block 2019‐nCoV infection and reliably treat the COVID‐19.

This report describes a case of a 70-year-old male that underwent decompression laminectomy and internal fixation under general anaesthesia. After extubation, the patient gradually developed no response to instructions and the disturbance of consciousness persisted with unequal pupils in size, but clinical neurological findings and a brain computed tomography scan showed no organic abnormalities. A careful medical history undertaken by anaesthesiologists revealed that the patient had a history of trauma to his left eye, resulting in blindness in this eye, but the surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses did not find these problems before the operation. The diagnosis in this case was prolonged unconsciousness due to delayed recovery from anaesthesia. Careful titration of the dose based on individual response in order to reduce adverse effects of general anaesthetics is especially important in elderly patients. Multiple checks of the patient information, surgical safety checklist and medical history by anaesthesiologists, surgeons and nurses can minimize the chance of an adverse outcome.

The network pharmacological regulation mechanism has been studied in which Qing-Fei-Pai-Du Decoction (QFPDD) can be used for treating diabetic patients suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we retrieved the target genes of QFPDD along with its effective components from the Traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database. The target genes of diabetes and COVID-19-associated diseases were searched based on the GeneCards database, and the co-target genes of QFPDD were obtained. The target genes were analyzed using the Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Cytoscape software was used for constructing the “herb-ingredient-target” network. Then, the co-target genes were imported into the Metascape database to analyze protein–protein interaction. Based on the results of the analysis of the hub genes from each database, the key target genes and the active components of QFPDD effective for treating diabetic COVID-19 patients were obtained. The crystal structures of the key target genes were retrieved from the protein data bank database, and molecular docking (MD) was performed using the AutoDock Tool, PyMoL, Chen3D, and other software. In total, 305 active ingredients and 274 target genes were identified among 19 traditional Chinese medicines present in QFPDD. We found 4585 COVID-19 target genes, 16 660 diabetes target genes, and 60 drug-disease target genes. The results of the Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses showed that the main function of these co-target genes was immune regulation. Additionally, protein interaction analysis and cluster analysis were performed to obtain a protein interaction network, and 3 core proteins and 4 core active components were found. According to the results of MD, the main effective components (quercetin, kaempferol, and wogonin) present in QFPDD were found to bind strongly to the receptor. The main active components of QFPDD were effective in treating diabetes complicated with COVID-19 through their actions on multiple biological pathways.