But they couldn't prove this hypothesis because they had no effective way of blocking the calcium-activated potassium channels. The researchers decided to see if clotrimazole could stop cells from dividing. They then exposed the CLT-treated cells to growth factor. Normally, growth factors trigger cells to divide. But the CLT-treated cells just sat there.
Metastatic tumors appear as dark grey circles, which are readily apparent in the untreated mouse.
The lung of the treated mouse, in this instance, appears to be free of tumors. Interestingly, when they stopped treating the cells with CLT, the cells would appear to recover their normal ability to divide in response to growth factor, suggesting that the drug does not destroy the cell or its components. The HMS researchers then repeated the in-vitro experiment, this time using a wide variety of cancer cells, including very aggressive human melanoma cells, colon cancer cells and lung cancer cells. We're focusing now on applications that will be treating very important diseases, diseases that have a tremendous impact on public health. Halperin Finally, they tested CLT in mice.