Fig. 1

Reversine suppresses the cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of human breast cancer cell lines. Time- and concentration-dependent changes of cell viability in the MDA-mB-231 (a) and MCF-7 cell lines (b) demonstrating the inhibition of reversion to human breast cancer cell lines. c Phase-contrast images of MDA-mB-231 (upper panel) and MCF-7 (low panel) in the indicated concentrations of reversine for 48 h. d Representative cell apoptosis phase images of MDA-mB-231 (upper panel) and MCF-7 (low panel) in the indicated concentrations of reversine for 48 h and the related apoptosis rate (%) in each cell lines (n = 3), compared with the control, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 (one-way ANOVA), n.s., no significance. e Cell cycle analysis of MCF-7 in the indicated concentrations of reversine for 48 h and the related percent bar chart of each cell cycle stages (n = 3)