BackgroundDecatropis bicolor (Zucc.)Radlk is a plant that has been traditionally used for the treatment of breast cancer in some communities of Mexico. So, the aim of this study was to determine the cytotoxic and apoptotic effect of the essential oil of Decatropis bicolor against breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231.MethodsThe essential oil obtained from hydrodestillation of leaves of Decatropis bicolor was studied for its biological activity against breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 by MTT assay, Hematoxylin-eosin stain, Annexin V-FITC, TUNEL and western blot assays and for its chemical composition by GC-MS.ResultsThe results showed a relevant cytotoxic effect of the essential oil towards MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose- and time- dependent manner, with an IC50 of 53.81 ± 1.691 μg/ml but not in the epithelial mammary cell line MCF10A (207.51 ± 3.26 μg/ml). Morphological examination displayed apoptotic characteristics in the treated cells like cell size reduction, membrane blebbing and apoptotic bodies. In addition, the apoptotic rate significantly increased as well as DNA fragmentation and western blot analysis revealed that the essential oil induced apoptosis in the MDA-MB-231 cells via intrinsic pathways due to the activation of Bax, caspases 9 and 3. Phytochemical analysis of the Decatropis bicolor essential oil showed the presence of twenty-three compounds. Major components of the oil were 1,5-cyclooctadiene,3-(methyl-2)propenyl (18.38 %), β-terpineol (8.16 %) and 1-(3-methyl-cyclopent-2-enyl)-cyclohexene (6.12 %).ConclusionsThis study suggests that essential oil of Decatropis bicolor has a potential cytotoxic and antitumoral effect against breast cancer cells, with the presence of potential bioactive compounds. Our results contribute to the validation of the anticancer activity of the plant in Mexican traditional medicine.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1136-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology seeks to address growing concerns about reproducibility in scientific research by replicating selected results from a substantial number of high-profile papers in the field of cancer biology published between 2010 and 2012. This Registered report describes the proposed replication plan of key experiments from ‘Interactions between cancer stem cells and their niche govern metastatic colonization’ by Malanchi and colleagues, published in Nature in 2012 (Malanchi et al., 2012). The key experiments that will be replicated are those reported in Figures 2H, 3A, 3B, and S13. In these experiments, Malanchi and colleagues analyze messenger RNA levels of periostin (POSTN) in pulmonary fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells isolated from mice with micrometastases to determine which cell type is producing POSTN in the metastatic niche (Figure 2H; Malanchi et al., 2012). Additionally, they examine MMTV-PyMT control or POSTN null mice to test the effect of POSTN on primary tumor growth and metastasis (Figures 3A, 3B, and S13; Malanchi et al., 2012). The Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology is a collaboration between the Center for Open Science and Science Exchange, and the results of the replications will be published in eLife.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06938.001

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The regulation of the mRNA decay activator Tristetraprolin (TTP) by the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway during the mammalian inflammatory response represents a paradigm for the control of mRNA turnover by signaling. TTP activity is regulated through multiple phosphorylation sites, including an evolutionary conserved serine in its CNOT1 Interacting Motif (CIM) whose phosphorylation disrupts an interaction with CNOT1 of the CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex.