Synthesis and screening of 2,6-diamino-substituted purine derivatives as potential cardiomyogenesis inducing agents

The synthesis of 2,6-diamino-substituted purines is reported starting from 2,6-dichloropurine via two subsequent selective nucleophilic substitution reactions. The first substitution takes place selectively in 6-, the second in 2-position. The compounds were synthesized as structural analogs of reversine, a substance which was reported to possess the ability to de-differentiate lineage- committed cells into progenitor cells which then can be differentiated into other cell types such as adipocytes or osteoblasts. The obtained compounds were tested regarding their potential to support cardiomyogenic cell differentiation based on preliminary findings that reversine also showed some activity in this regard.