Biflavonoids isolated from Selaginella tamariscina regulate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase in human skin fibroblasts

The methanol extract of Selaginella tamariscina significantly inhibited UV irradiation induced activity of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in primary fibroblasts from human skin. Using a bioassay-directed chromatographic separation, five biflavonoids were isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of S. tamariscina. Here, we investigated the effect of these five biflavonoids on the regulation of MMP-1 and -2 in UV irradiated cultured dermal fibroblasts from human neonatal foreskins. Among these biflavonoids, sumaflavone (2) and amentoflavone (4) showed significant MMP-1 inhibitory activity. The IC50 values of sumaflavone, amentoflavone and retinoic acid, which was used as a positive control, were 0.78, 1.8, and 10µM, respectively [1].