For almost thirty years, Dr. Arcangeli has been involved in studies aimed at defining the biophysical aspects of intracellular signaling by controlling cell growth and differentiation of tumor cells. She contributed to unravel the action mechanism of widely used inducers of tumor cell differentiation, such as the “hybrid polar compounds” (HPC). She also focused on the role of potassium channels, in particular, the hERG1 channel, in the governance of the resting potential, cellular ionic homeostasis and cell signaling in normal and cancer cells.

In this field, Dr. Arcangeli acquired most of the methodologies required to accomplish this proposal, most notably, genome manipulation, biomolecular techniques and patch clamping. Meanwhile, in the last few years she exploited her skill in mouse transgenesis and in vivo experiments in immunodeficient mice. These studies led to discovery that, in many human and experimental tumors, the resting potential is controlled by hERG1, an important family of recently discovered potassium channels. In addition, Dr. Arcangeli integrates biophysical, biomolecular and genetic approaches to the role of potassium channels and their encoding genes in embryonic development and tumor formation