A 83-01 sodium salt is a potent inhibitor of TGF-β type I receptor ALK5 kinase, type I activin/nodal receptor ALK4 and type I nodal receptor ALK7, reduces the level of ALK-5-induced transcription with an IC 50 of 12 nM in Mv1Lu cells, also blocks the ALK4-TD and ALK7-TD induced transcription with IC 50 s of 45 nM and 7.5 nM in R4-2 cells, and weakly suppresses that induced by constitutively active ALK-6, ALK-2, ALK-3, and ALK-1. A 83-01 (0.03-10 μM) potently prevents the growth-inhibitory effects of TGF-β, and completely inhibits the effect at 3 μM. A 83-01 (1-10 μM) inhibits TGF-β-induced Smad activation in HaCaT cells [1]. A 83-01 (1 μM) decreases cell motility, adhesion and invasion increased by TGF-β1 in HM-1 cells while not change cell proliferation [2].

A 83-01 (50, 150 and 500 μg/mouse, i.p.) markedly improves survival of the mice without body weight or neurobehavioral appearances [2]. A 83-01 (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) shows a significantly strong antitumor effect in mice bearing M109 cells [3].