Chemical components in extracts from Plastrum testudinis with proliferation-promoting effects on rat mesenchymal stem cells.

Plastrum Testudinis (PT) is often used as an important traditional Chinese medicine to treat bone diseases in China for centuries. To identify active components of PT involved in promoting proliferation of MSCs, PT was extracted with ethyl acetate and separated by silica gel column chromatography with gradient elution. Sixteen (Ts-1 ≈ 16) components were obtained, which were biologically evaluated by MTT assay and flow cytometry on the proliferation of rat marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs). Results indicated that Ts-12 could induce the proliferation compared with control group (p < 0.05), while Ts-4 exhibited inhibitive effect. The chemical components of PT which regulated the proliferation of rMSCs were investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), HPLC, and nine standard compounds. The experimental results suggested that palmitic acid methyl ester and cholesterol myristate, which identified from Ts-12, possessed proliferative activity while stearic acid found in Ts-4 showed inhibition.