IPA-3
Unsuitables - unsuitable to be used as a chemical probe
Structure
This is unsuitable as a chemical probe: While this
compound has been used to interrogate specific protein
targets, it is not a chemical probe and should not be used
in assays that depend on a potent and selective modulator
of the protein.
Non selective compound
IPA-3 is an uncompetitive PAK1 inhibitor. While this compound is a selective, covalent binder of PAK1 (targeting its autoregulatory domain), its redox activity makes it a poor tool; cells exposed to this compound may rapidly change their redox potential due to the continuous reduction of the reactive sulfhydryl moiety. As a consequence, cells can be very sensitive to this compound independent of any specific effects on PAK1. For further reference, see Rudolph et al., Inhibitors of p21-Activated Kinases (PAKs) J. Med Chem. 2015 58, 111-129. As there are other specific ATP-competitive PAK inhibitors available, there should be no reason to use this tool any longer.