Y-27632 Explained

Y-27632 is a biochemical tool used in the study of the rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) signaling pathways.^[1] Y-27632 selectively inhibits p160ROCK, although it does inhibit other protein kinases such as PKCs at higher concentrations.^[2]

It has been studied for its effects on corneal endothelial cells (CECs) ^[3] and cardiac stem cells (CSCs).^[4]

The substance has been used as part of a chemical cocktail to turn old and senescent human cells back into young ones (as measured by transcriptomic age), without turning them all the way back into undifferentiated stem cells.^[5]

A mixture of methylcellulose (1%), ethylene glycol (10%), dimethyl sulfoxide (10%), and Y-27632 (10 μM), termed MEDY, has been shown to be an effective cryopreservation reagent for brain tissue, enabling tissue to resume growth and function after freezing using liquid nitrogen.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Uehata, Masayoshi . Y-27632. Selective probe of ROCK/Rho-kinase . Jikken Igaku . 1999 . 17 . 7 . 850–855.
2. 9353125 . 1997 . Uehata . M . Ishizaki . T . Satoh . H . Ono . T . Kawahara . T . Morishita . T . Tamakawa . H . Yamagami . K . Inui . J . Inui . Jun . Maekawa . Midori . Calcium sensitization of smooth muscle mediated by a Rho-associated protein kinase in hypertension . 389 . 6654 . 990–4 . 10.1038/40187 . Nature. 1997Natur.389..990U . 4419556 . 8 .
3. Peh. Gary S. L.. Adnan. Khadijah. George. Benjamin L.. Ang. Heng-Pei. Seah. Xin-Yi. Tan. Donald T.. Mehta. Jodhbir S.. 2015-03-16. The effects of Rho-associated kinase inhibitor Y-27632 on primary human corneal endothelial cells propagated using a dual media approach. Scientific Reports. 5. 9167. 10.1038/srep09167. 2045-2322. 4387913. 25823914. 2015NatSR...5E9167P.
4. Kan. Lijuan. Smith. Aubrie. Chen. Miao. Ledford. Benjamin T.. Fan. Huimin. Liu. Zhongmin. He. Jia-Qiang. 2015-12-08. Rho-Associated Kinase Inhibitor (Y-27632) Attenuates Doxorubicin-Induced Apoptosis of Human Cardiac Stem Cells. PLOS ONE. 10. 12. e0144513. 10.1371/journal.pone.0144513. 1932-6203. 4672899. 26645568. 2015PLoSO..1044513K. free.
5. Yang . Jae-Hyun . Petty . Christopher A. . Dixon-McDougall . Thomas . Lopez . Maria Vina . Tyshkovskiy . Alexander . Maybury-Lewis . Sun . Tian . Xiao . Ibrahim . Nabilah . Chen . Zhili . Griffin . Patrick T. . Arnold . Matthew . Li . Jien . Martinez . Oswaldo A. . Behn . Alexander . Rogers-Hammond . Ryan . 2023-07-12 . Chemically induced reprogramming to reverse cellular aging . Aging . en . 15 . 13 . 5966–5989 . 10.18632/aging.204896 . 1945-4589 . 10373966 . 37437248.
6. 10.1016/j.crmeth.2024.100777 . Effective cryopreservation of human brain tissue and neural organoids . 2024 . Xue . Weiwei . Li . Huijuan . Xu . Jinhong . Yu . Xiao . Liu . Linlin . Liu . Huihui . Zhao . Rui . Shao . Zhicheng . Cell Reports Methods . 4 . 5 . 38744289 . free . 11133841 .