Phenylbutyrate
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
Phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) has been described as an HDAC inhibitor (DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-3781-8). However, due to its low potency (IC50 5.45 mM (millimolar)), the high concentration required for in-cell assays (10 mM) and the lack of selectivity assessment, we do not recommend using it as a chemical probe to investigate HDACs activity in cells.