ABSTRACT
To investigate the effect of total panax notoginseng saponins (tPNS) to induce the differentiation of mononuclear cells (MNC) in cord blood into endothelial cells, the DMEM culture media containing tPNS were used to induce the MNC of cord blood. Then, the morphology of the adherent cells was observed by the light microscopy and the fluorescence microscopy, the changes of cell surface markers (UEA-1), function marker (vWF) and CD31 were detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that the number of adherent cells produced by 250 mg/L tPNS and the positive rate of cells expressing CD31 and UEA-1 were higher than those in the groups of other concentrations (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of adherent cells expressing CD31 and UEA-1 between 50 ng/ml VEGF + 250 mg/L tPNS and 50 ng/ml VEGF. It is concluded that the traditional Chinese drug tPNS can induce partial MNC in the cord blood to differentiate into endothelial cells. No synergistic effect has been found between tPNS and VEGF.