Astrapterocarpan isolated from Astragalus membranaceus inhibits proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells.

The inhibitory effects of astrapterocarpan, formononetin, and calycosin isolated from Astragalus membraneceus on platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced proliferative response in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (A10 cells) were investigated. Astrapterocarpan significantly inhibited PDGF-BB-induced cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in a concentration-dependent manner. This inhibition was not attributed to toxicity. In contrast, formononetin and calycosin had no effect. We next examined the effect of astrapterocarpan on PDGF-BB signal transduction. Astrapterocarpan inhibited PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERIC1/2) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. However, this compound had no effect on phosphorylation of PDGF-beta-receptor, Akt kinase and p38 MAP kinase. These results indicated that astrapterocarpan inhibits PDGF-BB-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and that this effect may be mediated, at least in part, by inhibition of the ERK1/2 MAP kinase cascade.