Forskolin, 25 mg

A cell-permeable diterpene from STEMCELL Technologies, this small molecule directly activates adenylyl cyclase (IC₅₀ = 41 nM) to raise intracellular levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), an important second messenger involved in signal transduction pathways including activation of protein kinase A (PKA). It has a molecular formula of C₂₂H₃₄O₇, a molecular weight of 410.5 g/mol, and a purity of ≥98%.

The compound is supplied as a crystalline solid that is stable at -20°C when protected from prolonged light exposure, and is stable as supplied for 12 months from date of receipt. It has low solubility in aqueous media but is soluble in DMSO (≤70 mM) and absolute ethanol (≤35 mM). 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% to avoid potential cell toxicity.

Published research applications include chemical reprogramming of mouse embryonic fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells, NGN2-mediated transdifferentiation of human fibroblasts to cholinergic neurons, direct lineage reprogramming of fibroblasts to mature neurons, conversion of human embryonic stem cells to a naïve or ground state similar to mouse ES cells, and potentiation of neuronal differentiation of rat hippocampal neural progenitor cells.