To investigate the proliferative function of the major component of Salvia

the salvianolic acid B

on human chondrocyte cell line C28112 and to identify associated factors in regulatory signaling pathways

the study investigated the effective concentration of salvianolic acid B for chondrocyte growth in culture using MTS method and observe the cell division and the morphological changes by using  Acridine orange fluorescent labeling of DNA and RNA to as well as detect protein expression levels of β-Catenin and the new types of cartilage growth factor cytokine-like 1 (CYTL-1) by Western Blotting (WB) method. The results showed that the absorbance values (A) in experimental group detected by the MTS methods were higher than the control group in all doses with statistically significance (p<001); In salvianolic acid B experimental group

splitting cell nucleus with more dual-nucleus cells were obviously seen

indicating more active cells in growth process; the semiquantitative Western Blot analysis showed that the CYTL-1 expression in salvianolic acid B experimental group was significantly upregulated compared to the control group

the expression of β-Catenin in experimental group showed a trend of upregulation. So

salvianolic acid B promoted the growth of human chondrocytes. The functional mechanism could be that the salvianolic acid B acted on the Wnt signal transduction pathway in chondrocytes

up-regulated the expression level of β-Catenin

activated the transcription of the target gene CYTL-1

and then stimulated its expression and release.