Picroside I (6'-Cinnamoylcatalpol), a hepatoprotective agent, is reported to be antimicrobial and used against hepatitis B. It has antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities, it may be the valuable anti-invasive drug candidates for cancer therapy by suppressing Collagenases and Gelatinases. Picroside I can enhance basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)-, staurosporine- or dbc-mitogen-activated protein (MAP)-induced neurite outgrowth from PC12D cells.

Picroside I和Picroside II能够依赖浓度(>0.1 microM)增强PC12D细胞从基础成纤维细胞生长因子(bFGF, 2 ng/ml)、staurosporine(10 nM)及二丁酸环磷酸腺苷(dbcAMP, 0.3 mM)引发的神经突出生长。另外，Picrosides诱发的bFGF作用增强在GF109203X(0.1 microM)——一种蛋白激酶C抑制剂的作用下显著受阻。bFGF(2 ng/ml)和dbcAMP(0.3 mM)能显著增加磷酸化MAP激酶的表达，而staurosporine(10 nM)则不会。Picrosides对由bFGF或dbcAMP引发的MAP激酶的磷酸化没有影响，且在staurosporine存在时也不受影响。这些结果表明，Picroside I和Picroside II可能通过放大细胞内MAP激酶依赖的信号途径中MAP激酶的下游步骤，增强由bFGF、staurosporine或dbcAMP引起的PC12D细胞神经突出的生长。