Cell-permeable small molecules for regenerative medicine and cancer research

Small molecules are cell-permeable organic compounds with low molecular weights, which are chemically produced, in contrast to larger molecules such as proteins which are often produced via biological means. Small molecules are crucial components of an affordable cell culture toolkit that can be used to maintain, reprogram, and differentiate cells.

Typically, small molecules are cost-effective: rapid and convenient to manufacture with a high level of purity and low batch to batch variation, ensuring consistent activity and reproducible results. Producing larger molecules by biological means such as using viral vectors has the potential to introduce unwanted genetic material. By comparison animal-free small molecules are inherently safe, eliminating this possibility.

Used as tools to manipulate cell fates via the targeting of signaling pathways, small molecules are increasingly being cited in regenerative medicine research: to direct cells down a certain developmental pathway to a desired cell type, to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent cells and to maintain cells in culture. In cancer research, a wide range of small molecules are being used in targeted cancer therapy, to target the specific genes and proteins in cancer cells that enable them to survive and grow.

AMSBIO offer an extensive portfolio of high purity small molecules ranging from A83-01, Cyclopamine, and Forskolin right through to XAV1938 and Y27632, which can be used to target a variety of signaling pathways, with numerous applications in regenerative medicine and cancer research.

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