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Chemical Identity And Research Background — Worked Examples

By Editorial Desk · published 2025-11-23 · last reviewed 2026-01-04 · Blog

AEDG tetrapeptide raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.

This page was last updated on 2026-01-04 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.

Chemical Identity and Research Background

In its supplied form epitalon is a white to off-white powder, usually lyophilized and often hygroscopic. It dissolves readily in water and in aqueous buffers, and it is commonly handled as the acetate or trifluoroacetate salt to improve stability during purification and drying. The amide backbone is labile in aqueous media, so solutions are less durable than the dry solid. Handling notes in the chemical literature therefore emphasize keeping the powder dry, cool and shielded from light until it is dissolved.

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose sequence is alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, written in single-letter code as AEDG. The four residues are joined by three peptide bonds, giving a linear backbone with no branching and no disulfide bridges. Its calculated molecular mass for the free form is approximately 390.3 daltons, a figure that rises when the compound is supplied as an acetate or trifluoroacetate salt. Because the chain is short, the molecule is defined entirely by its residue order rather than by any folded three-dimensional structure.

Epitalon Peptide Background and Structure

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the amino acid sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, abbreviated Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly or AEDG. It was developed by the Russian researcher Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues during work on peptide bioregulators derived from the pineal gland. The compound is short enough to be produced by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis and is typically handled as a lyophilized white powder. Its small size distinguishes it from larger pineal peptides such as epithalamin, a complex extract from which the tetrapeptide was conceptually derived.

The four residues give epitalon a molecular formula of C14H22N4O9 and a molecular weight near 390.35 daltons. The presence of two acidic residues, glutamate and aspartate, makes the free peptide strongly acidic, while the alanine and glycine ends provide neutral, nonpolar character. This combination produces a molecule with substantial water solubility. Because there are no cysteine, methionine, or tryptophan residues, the peptide lacks the most common oxidation-sensitive side chains, which simplifies handling compared with many longer peptides.

Epitalon at a glance

PropertyValueNotes
Chemical classSynthetic tetrapeptideFour residues, linear chain
Residue sequenceAla-Glu-Asp-GlySingle-letter form AEDG
Calculated mass390.3 daltonsValue for the free, uncharged form
AppearanceWhite to off-white powderUsually supplied lyophilized
SolubilityFreely soluble in waterOften handled as a salt form

Background and Proposed Mechanism

The most frequently cited proposed action is induction of telomerase, the enzyme that adds repeat sequences to chromosome ends. Cell-culture work from the originating group reported higher telomerase reverse transcriptase expression and measurable telomere elongation in human somatic cells after exposure. How a four-residue peptide would reach nuclear gene regulation is not established, and no cell-surface receptor or uptake route has been identified. Additional reports describe changes in melatonin secretion, antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in aged animals, but these findings remain mechanistically unconnected to the telomerase observation.

Published evidence comes mainly from Russian-language journals and from a single research group, with small sample sizes and limited independent replication. A few laboratories outside that group have examined related peptides and reported weaker or absent telomerase effects, so the central claim is best described as contested rather than settled. Rodent studies report modest changes in some ageing markers and in survival, but designs vary and control conditions are often sparse. No large randomised trial in humans has been published, and long-term safety data in healthy populations are correspondingly thin.

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. It was designed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology as a short, chemically defined analogue of epithalamin, a fraction obtained from bovine pineal tissue. Small peptide bioregulators of this type formed a long-running line of work there from the 1980s onward. Because the molecule is produced by solid-phase synthesis rather than extraction, its composition is exact and its purity can be measured directly.

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Identity and Research Background

Published work on this compound consists mainly of in vitro experiments, animal studies, and small clinical investigations, a substantial share of which appeared in Russian-language journals. Sample sizes are generally small, control conditions differ between studies, and several endpoints rely on markers whose clinical meaning is itself debated. Reviews of the longevity field treat the peptide as an early example of telomerase-directed research rather than an established intervention. Regulatory treatment varies by country: some jurisdictions place it under prescription controls, others treat it as a laboratory material, and importation may be restricted regardless of local status.

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose sequence is alanine–glutamate–aspartate–glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. It was developed in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s by investigators associated with the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, who studied short peptides as regulators of gene expression and tissue function. The alternative spelling epithalon appears interchangeably in the literature, and the two names refer to the same molecule. Outside Russia it is encountered chiefly as a research chemical rather than a licensed medicine, and it holds no approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency.

Epitalon Structure and Research Origin

Chemically, the molecule consists of four amino acid residues joined by three peptide bonds, with a free N-terminal amino group and a free C-terminal carboxyl group. Its molecular formula is C14H22N4O9, and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 390 daltons. The acidic glutamate and aspartate side chains give the peptide a net negative charge near neutral pH, a property that shapes its chromatographic behaviour and solubility profile. No disulfide bridges or other post-translational modifications are present, so the primary sequence alone defines the structure.

Most experimental work has been carried out in cell culture and animal models. Several reports describe changes in telomerase activity and proliferation in cultured cells, while rodent studies have examined lifespan, melatonin rhythm and reproductive endpoints. Human data remain limited, and much of the published clinical material consists of small trials with incomplete reporting of methods and controls. Whether the cell and animal findings translate into measurable effects in people is an open question, and the mechanistic basis of the reported telomerase changes is not fully established.

Epitalon Background and Nomenclature

Epitalon is the common name for a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, usually abbreviated AEDG. All four residues are proteinogenic amino acids, and the free peptide has a calculated mass near 390 grams per mole. Because the chain is short and carries no modifications, it is assembled readily by solid-phase synthesis and is distributed mainly as a freeze-dried solid for laboratory work. Catalogue listings use the spellings epitalon, epithalone, and simply AEDG, and the three refer to the same sequence.

The compound is generally presented as a synthetic fragment of epithalamin, a pineal gland extract investigated in the former Soviet Union from the 1970s onward. Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues in Saint Petersburg developed short peptides modelled on such extracts, and epitalon became the most widely cited of those sequences. Most primary reports appeared in Russian-language journals or in proceedings with limited international circulation. Independent replication in laboratories outside that network remains sparse, and much repeated secondary material traces back to a small number of originating groups.

Further detail

== Discovery == Jelleines were first isolated in 2004 by the research group of Professor Mario Sergio Palma at São Paulo State University, Brazil. First, he collected royal jelly from a group of honey bee larvae and purified the results by reverse phase, high-performance liquid chromatography. This purified royal jelly showed antimicrobial activity against different bacteria. So far, four peptides have been found in this family, each one containing the carboxamide C-terminal.

== External links == Mass spectrometry characterization of MYBPC3 at COPaKB GeneReviews/NIH/NCBI/UW entry on Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Overview Overview of all the structural information available in the PDB for UniProt: Q14896 (Myosin-binding protein C, cardiac-type) at the PDBe-KB.

Through hundreds of photographs, she demonstrates that the image of a female displaying her vulva is not specific to European religious art or architecture, but that similar images are found in the visual arts and in mythical narratives of goddesses and heroines parting their thighs to reveal what she calls, "sacred powers". Her theory is that "the image is so rooted in our psyches that it seems as if the icon is the original cosmological center of the human imagination".

Cheese curds, drained of the whey and served without further processing or aging, are popular in some French-speaking regions of Canada, such as Quebec, parts of Ontario, and Atlantic Canada. These are often sold in snack-sized packaging and seen as a typically Canadian food item. Throughout Canada cheese curds are served with french fries and gravy in a popular snack called poutine. Curds are also typical of some Germanic-descent regions such as historic Waterloo County in Ontario. In some parts of the Midwestern U.S., especially in Wisconsin, curds are eaten fresh without further additions, or they are breaded and fried.

Native (i.e., elemental) selenium is a rare mineral, which does not usually form good crystals, but, when it does, they are steep rhombohedra or tiny acicular (hair-like) crystals. Isolation of selenium is often complicated by the presence of other compounds and elements. Selenium occurs naturally in several inorganic forms, including selenide, selenate, and selenite, but these minerals are rare. The common mineral selenite is not a selenium mineral, and contains no selenite ion, but is rather a type of gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) named like selenium for the moon well before the discovery of selenium. Selenium is most commonly found as an impurity, replacing a small fraction of the sulfur in sulfide ores of many metals, particularly copper sulfide. In living systems, selenium is found in the amino acids selenomethionine, selenocysteine, and methylselenocysteine. In these compounds, selenium plays a role analogous to that of sulfur. Another naturally occurring organoselenium compound is dimethyl selenide. Certain soils are selenium-rich, and selenium can be bioconcentrated by some plants. In soils, selenium most often occurs in soluble forms such as selenate (analogous to sulfate), which are leached into rivers very easily by runoff. Ocean water contains significant amounts of selenium. Typical background concentrations of selenium do not exceed 1 ng/m3 in the atmosphere; 1 mg/kg in soil and vegetation and 0.5 μg/L in freshwater and seawater, 0.05 – 0.09 mg/kg average crustal abundance.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Background from the literature

== Personal history == Huggins was born in 1897 to Amos Williamson Huggins and Mary Abigail Hackley. He had at least two sisters, Dorothea Harriet Huggins (born September 22, 1894) and Mary Abigail Huggins (born October 2, 1904). He earned his Ph.D. in 1922 under Charles Walter Porter (known as Walter Porter) in the Chemistry Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley. In 1941 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was employed as a chemist by Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories.

Nando's (; Afrikaans: [ˈnandœs]) is a South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style chicken. The name is derived from a nickname for the male given name Fernando, in reference to one of the company's founders. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo depicts the Rooster of Barcelos, one of Portugal's most common symbols. The company was wholly owned by Dick Enthoven until his death in 2022, and is now owned by his family.

One possible explanation is that freezing causes the loss of hydroxyl groups on the Alum, destabilizing its association with the antigen. Another explanation is the agglomeration of adjuvant-antigen complexes, forming larger particles of lower surface area. In either case, there are a number of cryoprotectants such as glycerine that can be added to the typical vial of aluminum liquid suspension vaccine to reduce the loss of potency. Some scientists are also working on making Alum-containg vaccines suitable for freeze-drying. Freeze-dried vaccines exist as a stable dry powder containing nothing to freeze.

Choh Hao Li (sometimes Cho Hao Li) (Chinese: 李卓皓; pinyin: Lǐ Zhuōhào; April 21, 1913 – November 28, 1987) was a Chinese-born American biochemist who discovered in 1966 that human pituitary growth hormone (somatotropin) consists of a chain of 256 amino acids. In 1970, he succeeded in synthesizing this hormone, the largest protein molecule synthesized up to that time.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Frequently asked questions

Which amino acids make up epitalon?

The peptide contains four residues in the order alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine, abbreviated AEDG. The chain is linear and held together by three peptide bonds. Its calculated mass for the uncharged free form is about 390.3 daltons.

How does epitalon differ from epithalamin?

Epithalamin refers to a crude preparation derived from bovine pineal tissue, which contains many components. Epitalon is a single synthetic tetrapeptide identified from that material and produced by chemical synthesis. The two names are sometimes confused because early reports treated the synthetic peptide as an active fragment of the extract.

Is epitalon an approved pharmaceutical?

It has been registered for clinical use in Russia, where it is associated with a small family of short peptides. In most other jurisdictions it is not an approved medicine and is traded as a research chemical. Regulatory status varies by country and changes over time.

What is epitalon made of?

Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide composed of four amino acids: alanine, glutamate, aspartate, and glycine. It is written as Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly. The free peptide has a molecular weight of about 390 daltons and is normally supplied as a lyophilized powder.

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