EC23, 10 mg

From STEMCELL Technologies, this small molecule is a synthetic, photostable retinoid described as a pan-retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonist. It functions as a retinoid pathway activator and is reported to induce neural differentiation, including in human pluripotent stem cells and in the human fetal neural progenitor cell line ReNcell VM, similarly to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). The compound shows pan-RAR activity with reported EC₅₀ values of 41 nM for RARα, 0.5 nM for RARβ, and 0.4 nM for RARγ, while having no appreciable activity at retinoid X receptors (RXR; EC₅₀ > 10 µM for all). It also weakly activates aryl hydrocarbon receptors.

It is supplied as a crystalline solid with a reported purity of ≥ 98% (chemical formula C₂₃H₂₄O₂, molecular weight 332.4 g/mol, CAS 104561-41-3) and is a photostable synthetic analog of ATRA. Alternative designations include AGN 190205 and BASF 46928. The product is reported stable at ≤20°C as supplied and should be protected from prolonged exposure to light; it is stated to remain stable as supplied for 12 months from date of receipt. Reported solubility is ≤ 15 mM in DMSO and ≤ 3 mM in absolute ethanol, and the compound has low solubility in aqueous media. For use as a cell culture supplement, stock solutions should be diluted into culture medium immediately before use, with final DMSO concentration kept below 0.1% due to potential cell toxicity.