Scholarship Symposium

Presenter: Ashley Mendez
Faculty Advisor: Lunawati L. Bennett

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer caused by genetic mutation which leads to uncontrolled division of immature nerve cells. In the United States, there are around 800 incidences of neuroblastoma per year, which accounts for 50 percent of all cancer in infants younger than 1 year old. Uvaria afzelii (UA) is a small tree or spreading shrub found in West tropical Africa, and it has been known for many healing properties such as anti-tussive, pyrexia, dyspnea, respiratory tract infections, anti-microbial, inflammation/infection of the liver, kidney and bladder. The purpose of this study was to investigate and to understand how UA affects neuroblastoma using SK-N-SH cell lines as the model. Western Blots were performed to detect the genes that were up-or-down regulated in the SK-N-SH cells. HEK 293 kidney cells was used as a control to study the effects of UA on normal cells. UA concentration used in the SK-N-SH and HEK 293 cells were based on prior MTT results. The results of this study suggested that UA caused up-regulation of Apaf-1, Smac/DIABLO, and Bax proteins which are involved in apoptosis, while caused down-regulation of Bcl2, Src, and MMP2 proteins involved in anti-apoptosis, metastasis, and angiogenesis respectively. Further studies are needed to confirm UA effect on other proteins involved in tumor suppressor genes to elucidate its effect as a compound with antineoplastic properties.