Repair and regenerative research peptides

Peptides and peptide–copper complexes studied in tissue-remodelling and cytoprotection models.

The compounds grouped here are studied in tissue-remodelling and cytoprotection models. The category is defined by the kind of model the literature uses, not by a shared receptor — and in this group that distinction matters more than usual, because the molecules are characterised to very different depths.

At one end sits TB-500, whose relationship to thymosin β4 is well defined biochemically: the parent protein has a mapped binding partner and a binding site established residue by residue. At the other sits BPC-157, for which no receptor has been identified and the published mechanism consists of pathways observed after exposure rather than a binding event. GHK-Cu and KPV are separate again, each with its own literature.

A further complication runs through the group: some names in it denote more than one molecule. The side-by-side page on BPC-157 and TB-500 sets out both the naming problem and the single published study that assessed the two in the same model.

Compounds listed below without a link do not yet have a published entry.

Compounds in this category

7 of 7 entries are published. Compounds without a published entry are listed without a link.

  • BPC-157BPC-157 is a synthetic fifteen-residue peptide whose sequence is described in the literature as a partial sequence of a protein fraction isolated from human gastric juice. Its published evidence base is overwhelmingly rodent. It is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any indication.
  • TB-500 (Thymosin β4)TB-500 is a name applied to two different molecules: thymosin β4, a 43-residue intracellular actin-binding protein, and Ac-LKKTETQ, the seven-residue fragment of it recorded in the chemical registers under that name. Neither is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any indication.
  • TB-500 Fragment 17-23The TB-500 17-23 fragment is the seven-residue acetylated peptide Ac-Leu-Lys-Lys-Thr-Glu-Thr-Gln-OH, corresponding to the actin-binding motif at residues 17 to 23 of thymosin beta-4. It is the substance the chemical registers record under the name TB-500. It is not approved by the FDA for any indication.
  • GHK-CuGHK-Cu is a coordination complex of copper(II) with the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine. Its published research is chemistry and cell culture with a small rodent literature; no clinical trial of it has been published in the indexed literature. It is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any indication.
  • AHK-CuAHK-Cu is a copper(II) complex of the tripeptide L-alanyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine. Its entire published primary research record is one 2007 study in cultured human dermal papilla cells and ex vivo hair follicles. It has never been studied in a clinical trial and is not approved by the FDA for any indication.
  • KPVKPV is a three-residue synthetic peptide — lysine, proline, valine — corresponding to residues 11 to 13 of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. Its published research is entirely preclinical: cell culture and rodent models of colitis. No clinical trial of it is registered or published, and it is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any indication.
  • ARA-290ARA-290, also named cibinetide, is an eleven-residue synthetic peptide corresponding to the aqueous face of helix B of erythropoietin. It activates the innate repair receptor — an erythropoietin receptor and CD131 heterocomplex — without stimulating red cell production, and has been studied in randomised placebo-controlled trials up to phase 2b. It is not approved by the FDA for any indication.

For in vitro research use only. This material is a laboratory reagent. It is not a drug, food, dietary supplement, or cosmetic and is not for human or veterinary use, including ingestion, injection, or any other administration. No information on this page describes or implies any effect in humans or animals. Sold only to researchers under our Terms of Sale.