Prostratin is a protein kinase C activator found in the bark of the mamala tree of Samoa, Homalanthus nutans (Euphorbiaceae). While prostratin was originally isolated and identified as a new phorbol from species of the genus Pimelea (Thymelaceae) in Australia, the antiviral activity of prostratin was discovered during research on the traditional knowledge of Samoan healers in Falealupo village by ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox and a team at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Samoan healers use the mamala tree to treat hepatitis. Research indicated that prostratin has potential to be useful in the treatment of HIV as it could flush viral reservoirs in latently infected CD4+ T-cells. Prostratin is of interest because of its unique ability to activate latent viral reservoirs, while preventing healthy cells from infection, as well as its discovery through ethnobotany.
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