SLU-PP-332 is a small-molecule pan-agonist of the estrogen-related receptors ERR alpha, beta and gamma — a 290.27 g/mol non-peptide compound studied as an exercise-mimetic probe. It is not a peptide, not a hormone, and not an estrogen receptor ligand despite the name of its target family. Its interest lies in acting on a transcriptional programme rather than a cell-surface receptor, which makes it mechanistically unlike almost everything else in a metabolic peptide catalog. We supply research-grade SLU-PP-332 as lyophilized powder in sealed vials, for laboratory use only.
What is SLU-PP-332, precisely
The estrogen-related receptors are orphan nuclear receptors — transcription factors named for their sequence similarity to the estrogen receptor, not for binding estrogen. They have no known endogenous ligand, which is what orphan means in this context, and they regulate genes governing mitochondrial biogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation and fatty-acid oxidation. ERR alpha in particular works with the coactivator PGC-1 alpha, the transcriptional hub that exercise activates in skeletal muscle.
SLU-PP-332 was identified as a synthetic agonist that engages all three ERR isoforms. Because it acts inside the cell on transcription rather than at a surface receptor, its effects appear on a timescale of hours to days as gene expression changes, not in minutes as a signalling response — a distinction that governs how any experiment with it must be designed.
Origin and structure
- Compound class. Small-molecule nuclear receptor agonist, non-peptide, developed from a synthetic screening series rather than derived from a natural product.
- Identifiers. CAS 2098486-97-2, molecular weight 290.27 g/mol.
- Target. ERR alpha, ERR beta and ERR gamma — a pan-agonist rather than an isoform-selective tool.
- Solubility. DMSO for concentrated stocks, diluted into assay medium or buffer. Unlike a charged compound such as 5-Amino-1MQ, this molecule is not freely water-soluble, and that constrains how it can be prepared.
How SLU-PP-332 is thought to work
Nuclear receptors bind DNA at response elements in target gene promoters and recruit coactivator complexes that drive transcription. For the ERRs, the reported consequence of agonism is upregulation of the oxidative gene programme: mitochondrial biogenesis, electron transport chain components, and enzymes of fatty-acid oxidation. Because this is broadly the same programme that endurance exercise induces through PGC-1 alpha, compounds acting here are described in the literature as exercise mimetics — a label that describes a transcriptional resemblance, not an equivalence to exercise.
Published preclinical work has reported that SLU-PP-332 increases mitochondrial function and oxidative capacity in muscle cells, and rodent studies have described increased energy expenditure and improved running endurance. Being a pan-agonist is a genuine limitation for mechanistic work: ERR alpha, beta and gamma have distinct tissue distributions and partly distinct target genes, so an effect observed with this compound cannot be assigned to a single isoform without an isoform-selective comparator or a knockdown arm. Anyone using it to ask which ERR does what should build that control into the design from the start.
The timescale point deserves emphasis because it is where most poorly designed experiments with this compound go wrong. A transcription factor agonist produces its effect by changing which genes are expressed, and that requires transcription, translation and, for mitochondrial biogenesis, assembly of new organelles. Readouts taken at thirty minutes will show nothing; readouts taken at twenty-four to seventy-two hours are where the reported effects appear. Equally, an appropriate positive control is not another metabolic compound but a known inducer of the same programme, and an appropriate negative control accounts for the solvent, since DMSO at the concentrations used has measurable effects on mitochondrial readouts in some cell types.
What research has examined
- Receptor and reporter assays. ERR-driven luciferase reporters and coactivator recruitment assays establishing agonist activity and potency at each isoform.
- Cell studies. Myotube and muscle cell cultures measuring mitochondrial content, oxygen consumption rate and expression of oxidative genes.
- Rodent studies. Energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry, exercise capacity testing, body composition in diet-induced obesity models, and work in cardiac tissue where ERR signalling is also active.
- Human data. None. There is no clinical trial programme, no published human pharmacokinetics, and no human safety data. Our specification sheet states this explicitly: cell culture and rodent studies only.
For a comparison of the small-molecule metabolic tools in this range, see 5-Amino-1MQ vs SLU-PP-332 and the energy and mitochondria research overview.
Pharmacokinetics is the other limitation the literature is candid about. Compounds of this series have been described as having short exposure and modest oral availability in rodents, which is why much of the published in vivo work relies on frequent administration to sustain the transcriptional signal. For a laboratory, this means that a negative in vivo result may reflect insufficient exposure rather than absence of activity, and that pharmacokinetic verification belongs in any in vivo design rather than being assumed from the cell data, ideally with plasma sampling at the timepoints where the transcriptional readout is taken.
Forms and sizes we supply
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Form | Lyophilized powder, sealed glass vial |
| Sizes | 5 mg, 10 mg |
| Purity | Greater than or equal to 99% by HPLC, lot-matched COA |
| CAS | 2098486-97-2 |
| Molecular weight | 290.27 g/mol |
| Target | ERR alpha, beta and gamma (pan-agonist) |
| Evidence base | Cell culture and rodent studies only; no human data |
| Intended use | Laboratory research only |
A 5 mg vial of a 290 g/mol compound is about 17 micromoles, which is a substantial quantity for cell work at micromolar concentrations. Sizes and pricing are on the SLU-PP-332 product page, within the fat-loss and metabolic collection and the wider research compounds range.
Reconstitution and storage in a lab context
Preparation differs from peptide practice in one important way: DMSO is the appropriate solvent for concentrated stocks, and the compound is then diluted into assay medium or buffer. A worked calculation — 5 mg dissolved in 1 mL of DMSO gives 5 mg/mL, which at 290.27 g/mol is approximately 17.2 mM; a 1:1,000 dilution into medium yields 17.2 micromolar with 0.1 percent residual DMSO, a solvent level most cell assays tolerate. Working backwards from the tolerable final solvent concentration is the correct way to plan a stock, not the other way round.
Store the solid at minus 20 degrees Celsius, sealed and protected from light and moisture. Hold solutions at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and use within the study window; DMSO stocks are hygroscopic and absorbed water changes both the effective concentration and the freezing behaviour, so sealed single-use aliquots are standard practice. See our reconstitution guide and molecular weight and moles note.
Purity, COA and how to read it
Expect HPLC purity, mass spectrometry identity against the theoretical 290.27 g/mol, lot number and analysis date. For a synthetic small molecule from a discovery series, NMR is the strongest identity evidence available and worth asking for, because mass alone cannot distinguish between structural isomers that share a formula — a real risk for a compound made by a multi-step synthesis. Residual solvent content is also relevant, since traces of reaction solvents carried through can affect cell viability at the concentrations used in assays. Net peptide content, the key figure on a peptide certificate, has no analogue here. See how to read a COA.
One further point separates this compound from receptor agonists as an experimental tool. Nuclear receptor readouts are transcriptional, so the natural endpoints are gene expression, protein abundance and functional capacity — not a signalling event measurable in minutes. That makes the appropriate assay panel quantitative PCR or RNA sequencing for the target programme, followed by a functional confirmation such as oxygen consumption rate. A laboratory equipped for receptor pharmacology but not for transcriptional readouts will find this compound difficult to characterise properly, and that equipment gap is worth confirming before material is ordered.
Regulatory status
SLU-PP-332 has no approval anywhere and no clinical development programme. It is an early-stage research compound whose entire evidence base is cell culture and rodent work, supplied as a laboratory reference chemical labelled research use only, not approved or formulated for human or veterinary administration. Compounds in this class are also of interest to sports anti-doping authorities. See research use only, explained.
Related compounds and comparisons
The most direct comparison is 5-Amino-1MQ vs SLU-PP-332. Other transcriptional and mitochondrial tools in the same research space include Cardarine (GW-501516), a PPAR-delta agonist, and BAM15, a mitochondrial uncoupler.