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Compound C/Dorsomorphin: Its Use and Misuse as an AMPK Inhibitor

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Book cover AMPK

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1732))

Abstract

The evolutionary conserved energy sensor AMPK plays crucial roles in many biological processes—both during normal development and pathology. Loss-of-function genetic studies in mice as well as in lower organisms underscore its importance in embryonic development, stress physiology in the adult, and in key metabolic disorders including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic syndrome. In contrast to several other kinases important in human health and medicine where specific/selective inhibitors are available, no AMPK-specific inhibitors are available. The only reagent called dorsomorphin or compound C that is occasionally used as an AMPK inhibitor unfortunately inhibits several other kinases much more potently than AMPK and is therefore highly non-specific. In this chapter, we discuss the pros and cons of using this reagent to study AMPK functions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Biplab Dasgupta

  2. Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    William Seibel

Authors
  1. Biplab Dasgupta
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  2. William Seibel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Biplab Dasgupta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Dietbert Neumann

  2. Department EMD, Inserm, U1016, Institut Cochin, CNRS, UMR8104, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Benoit Viollet

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Dasgupta, B., Seibel, W. (2018). Compound C/Dorsomorphin: Its Use and Misuse as an AMPK Inhibitor. In: Neumann, D., Viollet, B. (eds) AMPK. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1732. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7598-3_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7598-3_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7597-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7598-3

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