Characterization of Sesquiterpene Dimers from Resina Commiphora That Promote Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

The new sesquiterpene dimers commiphoroids A–D (1–4) were isolated from Resina Commiphora, and their structures were assigned by spectroscopic methods and X-ray diffraction analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 are stereoisomers of putative [2 + 4]-cycloaddition reactions, and 3 is a trinorsesquiterpene dimer containing a 6/6/5/6/6/6 hexacyclic framework, while 4 possesses a 8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]­oct-6-ene skeletal core. Plausible biosynthetic pathways for 1–4 are proposed. Biochemical studies show that compound 1 promotes ca. 60% expression of keratinocyte-specific markers in adipose-derived stem cells at 10 μM.