Stemolecule Valproic Acid

Stemolecule Valproic Acid (VPA) is a cell-permeable, small molecule that has been shown to affect several pathways. VPA is a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor which improves reprogramming efficiency by at least 100 fold 1 . VPA also has been found to affect both the Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK), Protein Kinase C (PKC), and the Wnt/β-Catenin pathways. VPA has been reported to regulate the differentiation and proliferation of various cells, including mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells, neuroblastoma cells, primary neurons and neural progenitor cells (NPCs) 2 . In the case of hepatic differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells, Valproic Acid in combination with cytokines differentiate cells into a uniform and homogeneous cell population of hepatic progenitor cells followed by maturation into functional hepatocytes 3 .