New stem cell tools to accelerate drug development

“Another significant characteristic of these synthetic molecules is that they direct stem cells down specific pathways, meaning that they, individually, will be useful for very specific types of drug development work. EC23, for example, produces almost 40 per cent more neurons than ATRA.”

Dr Whiting said: "We've set out to make stable mimics of natural compounds which control cell development, but in this case, not only have we uncovered a compound which is not only stable and does what the natural system does, but it actually seems to be better as well. It’s a real bonus and shows the validity of the approach."

Dr Przyborski, who is also Director and Chief Scientific Officer of spin-out company Reinnervate Limited, is currently marketing EC23 through Reinnervate. He said the results showed that synthetic retinoids EC23 and EC19 could be used to replace All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA).

ATRA is sensitive to light, heat and air, and exposure to light especially causes it to degrade rapidly, meaning scientists are never sure exactly what concentration or what mixture of isomers they are working with.

The experiments on EC23 and EC19, which included highly detailed analysis by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) showed that these synthetic molecules were not sensitive to light and therefore did not degrade.

The scientists are now developing a ‘molecular toolkit’ of synthetic compounds which are tailor made for specific stem cell and drug development work.

The project was funded in part by Reinnervate, the regional development agency, One NorthEast, Durham University, High Force Research Ltd., NESCI, and by the MRC, EPSRC, BBSRC research councils.

The close collaboration between chemists and biologists is critical to achieving this type of breakthrough.

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