Purmorphamine is a selective hedgehog pathway agonist that directly binds to and activates Smo receptor with an EC₅₀ ~1 μM. It can promote the differentiation of both human and mouse mesenchymal progenitor cells into osteoblasts. In recent publications, purmorphamine was used as a patterning (ventralizing) molecule in differentiating human ESCs/iPSC into dopaminergic or motor neurons.

How to Use:

• In vitro: Purmorphamine was used at 2-10 μM final concentration in cell culture.
• In vivo: n/a

Reference:

1. 1. Wu X, et al. A small molecule with osteogenesis-inducing activity in multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells. (2002) J Am Chem Soc 124, 14520-14521.
2. 2. Wu X, et al. Purmorphamine induces osteogenesis by activation of the hedgehog signaling pathway. (2004) Chem Biol 11 1229-1238.
3. 3. Beloti MM, et al. Purmorphamine enhances osteogenic activity of human osteoblasts derived from bone marrow mesenchymal cells. (2005) Cell Biol Int 29(7) 537-541.
4. 4. Sinha S, et al. Purmorphamine activates the hedgehog pathway by targeting smoothened. (2006) Nat Chem Biol 2(1) 29-30.
5. 5. Kriks S, et al. Dopamine neurons derived from human ES cells efficiently engraft in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. (2011) Nature 480, 547–551.