White crystalline, can with the Hedgehog signaling pathway of Smoothened (Smo) protein, thus inhibiting the activity of protein.
For its teratogenic effect was found in the 1960 s, but later research has shown that in the ninety s is a hedgehog ring dopamine signaling pathway inhibitor, has been demonstrated in in fruit flies, because of the hedgehog signaling pathway of mutations associated with the onset of a variety of tumors, recent studies have found that in adult ring dopamine have antitumor effect, and in pancreatic cancer and bile duct cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer and so on in vivo or in vitro experiments have confirmed, but about the research of gastric cancer cells, the reports have not been at home.
The ring dopamine as a potential antitumor drugs caused a worldwide research boom.