Heart failure is one leading cause of death in the world. Specifically, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is a kind of natriuretic peptide hormone. The main function of ANP is to reduce the volume of expanded ECF by increasing renal sodium excretion. Besides, ANP is synthesized and secreted by cardiomyocytes in the atrial wall of the heart. Moreover, reducing blood volume through ANP can lead to other effects, improve cardiac ejection fraction and organ perfusion, lower blood pressure, and increase serum potassium.

In recent years, synthetic small molecules (SYSMs) has a significant ability to transdifferentiate cells into other cell types. For example, SYSM reverses the lineage of skeletal muscle myoblasts to become pluripotent progenitor cells. Therefore, new therapies for myocardial regeneration have been widely concerned. VUT-MK142 is a potent new cardiomyogenic synthetic agent promoting the differentiation of pre-cardiac mesoderm into cardiomyocytes.

VUT-MK142 promotes the differentiation of pre-cardiac mesoderm into cardiomyocytes.

How does VUT-MK142 work on the target? In the beginning, VUT-MK142 is a potent new cardiomyogenic synthetic agent promoting the differentiation of pre-cardiac mesoderm into cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, this may be useful to differentiate stem cells into cardiomyocytes for cardiac repair.

In the second place, VUT-MK142 possesses promising cardiomyogenic effects on various cell types. Meanwhile, VUT-MK142 shows a remarkable effect on both P19 and C2C12 cells. Importantly, compared to CgC, VUT-MK142-treatment leads to a markedly stronger up-regulation of the expression of ANF. Nonetheless, VUT-MK142 with 1 μM treatment significantly increases the luciferase signal by 3.1 luciferases (n = 5)-fold in P19 cells.

All in all, VUT-MK142 promotes the differentiation of pre-cardiac mesoderm into cardiomyocytes.

References:

Moumita Koley, et al. Medchemcomm. 2013 Aug 1;4(8):1189-1195.