Suspecting the cancer cells were “starving to death”, Dr Devreotes furthered his experiment.
Tagging proteins with fluorescent markers, normal human cells glowed brightly as they ingested protein from their surroundings, regardless if statins were added into the mix.
However, human cells with PTEN mutations “took in almost no glowing proteins after the scientists added statins”.
The inability of statin-treated cancer cells to take in proteins is what effectively led to their starvation.