Background:

Dorsomorphin is a cell-permeable and reversible ATP-competitive inhibitor of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) with Ki value of 109nM [1].

Dorsomorphin is highly selective against AMPK over other structure related kinases such as protein kinase A, protein kinase C and Janus kinase 3. As an AMPK inhibitor, dorsomorphin is found to reverse the anti-proliferation induced by AMPK signaling in glucose-deprived mouse neural stem cells. It also shows inhibition of adipogenic differentiation in mouse 3T3-L1 fibroblasts [2].

Dorsomorphin is also reported to be an inhibitor of BMP signaling. It inhibits the phosphorylation of Smad 1/5/8, resulting in a reduction of heterotopic ossification. It also decreases the gene transcription of hepatic hepcidin and leads to increased iron levels subsequently. Moreover, the inhibition of BMP caused by dorsomorphin promotes self-renewal and neural induction of human ESC [2]

参考文献:
[1] Lu Y, Akinwumi BC, Shao Z, Anderson HD. Ligand Activation of Cannabinoid Receptors Attenuates Hypertrophy of Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2014 Jun 26.
[2] Kudo T, Kanetaka H, Mizuno K, et al. Effects of the Small Molecule Dorsomorphin on Intracellular Signaling. Interface Oral Health Science 2011. Springer Japan, 2012: 131-133.