Two new steroidal compounds from starfish Asterias amurensis Lutken

Two new sulfated steroidal compounds (1 and 2), along with three known steroidal saponins (3, 4, and 5) were isolated from the starfish Asterias amurensis Lutken. The structures of new compounds were elucidated as 3beta-O-sulfated-cholest-5-ene-7alpha-ol (1) and (E) 25-O-beta-d-xylopyranosyl-26, 27-dinor-24(S)-methyl-22-ene-15alpha-O-sulfated-5alpha-cholest-3beta,6alpha-ol (2) by extensive NMR experiments and chemical evidence. Their effects on UMR106 cell proliferation were screened by MTT method. The results indicated that compounds 2 and 2a (0.01-100 microM) significantly promoted the osteoblastic proliferation. The initial structure-activity relationship analysis suggests that the sugar moiety is the necessary group for the activity.