Salinomycin is initially an antibacterial and coccidiostat ionophore therapeutic drug. Salinomycin has been shown by Piyush Gupta et al. of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute to kill breast cancer stem cells in mice at least 100 times more effectively than the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel. The mechanism of action by which salinomycin kills cancer stem cells specifically remains unknown, but is thought to be due to its action as a potassium ionophore due to the detection of nigericin in the same compound screen. |