Examining the Anti-cancer Effects of Native Hawaiian Plant Extracts in Neuroblastoma

This project will be focused on examining Hawaiian ethno-pharmacology to identify alternative treatments for neuroblastoma patients. The initial work on this project identified two plants used in native Hawaiian medicine, noni (Morinda citrifolia) and ?olena (Curcuma longa) that exhibited anti-cancer effects. The extracts prepared from these plants were able to slow neuroblastoma cell growth, and kill neuroblastoma cells. Interestingly, these plant extracts (using traditional Hawaiian preparations) have been used by Kumu La'au Lapa'au (Native Hawaiian medicine practitioners) to treat patients for generations. However, most attempts to identify the active ingredient in these extracts have proven difficult due to the extraction and isolation methods used by western scientists. This project attempts to remove these barriers by working with Kumu La'au lapa'au to study the anti-cancer effects of these plants using traditional extracts prepared in a laboratory environment that may then be tested on neuroblastoma cells. The results are promising and have allowed the identification of a protein that may be involved in the anti-cancer effects of these extracts.  This protein is referred to as TMEM66 (transmembrane protein 66).  TMEM66 regulates calcium signaling and cell death. We believe that aberrant calcium signaling induced by our extracts alters TMEM66 function, slowing NB cell growth and inducing NB cell death. The student will be performing experiments that will test this hypothesis.