Research
Natural Products & Cancer Biology

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Natural Products & Cancer Biology
The overall objective of the Natural Products and Cancer Biology (NPCB) Program is to foster collaborative, interdisciplinary research leading to the discovery and development of new drugs for the prevention and/or treatment of cancer. The NPCB Program emphasizes the systematic evaluation of the unique biota of the Indo-Pacific region as a source of molecular diversity, and combines chemistry and biology components in a manner that bridges the gaps between traditional academic disciplines to enhance collaborative, interdisciplinary interactions.
Localization of endogenous protein PRAF2
(green) in human U251 glioblastoma cells.
Cytoskeleton appears in red, nucleus in blue,
and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in yellow,
(Bachmann Lab, 2009) .

The specific goals of the Natural Products and Cancer Biology Program are:

• To discover and characterize new chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents, emphasizing natural products.

• To investigate drug mechanisms at the biochemical, cellular, molecular, and genetic levels.

• To develop innovative new molecular targets and assays for small molecules, taking advantage of recent advances in cancer cell biology and signaling.

• To discover innovative new techniques that might be used to design and synthesize drugs, including both chemical and biological production.

• To translate the results of basic laboratory research into more effective cancer prevention and treatment approaches.

Program Description and Activities

The NPCB Program, formally organized in 1990, developed as a result of long-standing interactions between investigators who combined their diverse interests in pharmacology, cancer biology and cell signaling, organic chemistry, botany, and microbiology, as well as, a
Superimposition of four colors shown
from the original image above,
(Bachmann Lab, 2009).strong common interest in cancer therapeutics, to address the pressing need for new cancer drugs having specific effects on tumor cells and minimal side effects on normal tissues. The NPCB Program currently consists primarily of the cancer biology research faculty at the Cancer Research Center and School of Medicine (Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology and Anatomy and Reproductive Biology), located at Lauhala Street and the Kakaako Medical School campus; the natural products chemists (Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences), located on the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (UHM) campus on Oahu; and faculty housed in the College of Pharmacy, located at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UHH) on the “Big Island” of Hawai‘i. The NPCB Program is led by Dr. Marc Tius (Natural Products), Director. Currently, 16 Full, 5 Associate, and 4 Affiliate members, conducting chemical, molecular and cell biological, and interdisciplinary research, comprise the NPCB Program. The Program is a multidisciplinary research/drug discovery group that functions in separate but interrelated and interdependent areas: the acquisition of new, untested source material for screening; the development and implementation of innovative mechanism-based, cancer-relevant in vitro and cell-based assays; the isolation and identification of active compounds; and, for those pure compounds active in vitro, both detailed pharmacological investigation, definitive in vivo evaluation, and elucidation of relevant molecular mechanism(s). Translation of these research results into clinical trials is accomplished through partnerships with private industry.

Contact Information
Natural Products & Cancer Biology Program
1236 Lauhala Street, Room 301
Honolulu, HI 96813
Telephone: (808) 586-2961
Fax: (808) 586-2970 (Lauhala office)

Natural Products & Cancer Biology Program
651 Ilalo Street, BSB 222
Honolulu, HI 96813
Telephone: (808) 440-5224
Fax: (808) 587-0742 (Kakaako office)