This is a working overview of epithalamin, written for readers who want more than a one-paragraph summary but less than a textbook.
Reviewed 2026-08-01. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Several names circulate for the same molecule, including epitalon, epithalone, epithalamin tetrapeptide, and the sequence code AEDG. A CAS registry number, 307297-39-8, is commonly cited for it, though catalogue entries should be checked against supplier documentation because mislabelled records occur. In its usual form the peptide carries free amino and carboxyl termini and is neither glycosylated nor lipidated. Researchers distinguish the defined tetrapeptide from epithalamin itself, a crude pineal preparation containing many peptides that is not chemically characterised.
Material supplied for laboratory use is normally a lyophilised white to off-white powder that dissolves readily in water and in isotonic saline. Lyophilised cakes are hygroscopic and should be equilibrated to room temperature before opening to limit condensation on the solid. Solutions are typically prepared at milligram-per-millilitre concentrations and divided into single-use aliquots, because repeated freeze–thaw cycles degrade short peptides. Aqueous solutions are far less stable than the dry powder, and identity is usually verified by mass spectrometry alongside purity estimation from reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
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.
The peptide is a synthetic analogue of epithalamin, a preparation extracted from bovine pineal glands. Investigators sought a short, chemically defined molecule that would reproduce some of the endocrine and gerontological observations attributed to the glandular extract. Proposed mechanisms centre on induction of telomerase activity, an effect reported in cultured human somatic cells in the early 2000s, together with influences on melatonin secretion and neuroendocrine regulation. Those mechanisms remain incompletely characterised, and the reported telomerase response has not been consistently reproduced by independent groups working in comparable systems.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amino acid sequence | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly | Linear tetrapeptide, also written AEDG |
| Molecular mass | About 390.35 g/mol | Value calculated from the sequence |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilised material forms a loose cake |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Also dissolves in isotonic saline |
| Storage | -20 °C, desiccated | Aliquot solutions to avoid freeze–thaw cycling |
The compound is generally described as a synthetic analogue of a fragment isolated from a pineal gland extract. Researchers associated with the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology introduced it during the 1980s and 1990s while studying short peptides from animal tissue. The original extract, called epithalamin, is a heterogeneous mixture, whereas epitalon is a single defined sequence. That distinction matters because findings reported for the extract are not automatically findings about the pure tetrapeptide, and claims about broader biological effects remain a separate question from the chemical identity described here.
Residue composition is the property that most cleanly separates verified material from mislabelled samples. Alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine appear in that order from the N-terminus, and the two acidic residues sit in the middle of the chain. Because the peptide is short, it can be produced by solid-phase synthesis and characterised by mass spectrometry without ambiguity. Any reported sample whose measured mass departs substantially from 390 daltons is a different compound or a degraded mixture rather than epitalon.
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.
The compound is described in the literature as a derivative of epithalamin, a preparation obtained from bovine pineal tissue. Work on this peptide family was carried out mainly by a research group in Saint Petersburg beginning in the 1980s, and the substance was later registered for clinical use in Russia under the name Epitalon. Outside that region it is generally treated as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Statements about its biological activity rest on a relatively small number of studies, and independent replication remains limited.
Like DALI and SSAP, CE has been used to construct an all-to-all fold classification database Archived 1998-12-03 at the Wayback Machine from the known protein structures in the PDB. The RCSB PDB has recently released an updated version of CE, Mammoth, and FATCAT as part of the RCSB PDB Protein Comparison Tool. It provides a new variation of CE that can detect circular permutations in protein structures.
=== GC–tandem MS === When a second phase of mass fragmentation is added, for example using a second quadrupole in a quadrupole instrument, it is called tandem MS (MS/MS). MS/MS can sometimes be used to quantitate low levels of target compounds in the presence of a high sample matrix background. The first quadrupole (Q1) is connected with a collision cell (Q2) and another quadrupole (Q3). Both quadrupoles can be used in scanning or static mode, depending on the type of MS/MS analysis being performed. Types of analysis include product ion scan, precursor ion scan, selected reaction monitoring (SRM) (sometimes referred to as multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)) and neutral loss scan. For example: When Q1 is in static mode (looking at one mass only as in SIM), and Q3 is in scanning mode, one obtains a so-called product ion spectrum (also called "daughter spectrum"). From this spectrum, one can select a prominent product ion which can be the product ion for the chosen precursor ion. The pair is called a "transition" and forms the basis for SRM. SRM is highly specific and virtually eliminates matrix background.
The history of fungaria is closely tied to the early development of botanical herbaria, the oldest of which date to the mid-1500s. Fungal fruiting bodies have been collected and deposited for several centuries, with millions of specimens accumulated chiefly to support fungal taxonomy. Early collections were often personal assemblages or teaching aids used to distinguish edible mushrooms from poisonous ones. Over time, fungal herbaria shifted from keeping one or a few representative specimens per taxon toward documenting developmental stages and geographic variation within species more broadly. In some regions, fungaria developed in close association with government plant-pathology programmes; in South Africa, for example, organised collecting expanded after the creation of a mycology post in 1905 and a separate Division of Plant Pathology and Mycology in 1910, whose early staff built the nucleus of the Pretoria herbarium. At the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the mycological collection was established in the late 19th century after the donation of more than 10,000 fungal specimens by the mycologist Reverend Miles Joseph Berkeley. It was later enlarged through donations and collecting by staff and collaborators. More generally, fungaria were often built through a combination of personal collections, academic donations, and purchased exsiccatae series, drawing on wider networks of scientific exchange among mycologists.
Here, Mr(X) is the relative molar mass, also called molecular weight or formula weight. For normal samples from Earth with typical isotope composition, the standard atomic weight or the conventional atomic weight can be used as an approximation of the relative atomic mass of the sample. Examples are:
== U.S. Patents == Polypeptides and biosynthetic pathways for the production of monatin and its precursors, U.S. Patent 9,034,610. Polypeptides and biosynthetic pathways for the production of monatin and its precursors, U.S. Patent 8,435,765. Polypeptides and biosynthetic pathways for the production of monatin and its precursors, U.S. Patent 8,372,989. Production of monatin and monatin precursors, U.S. Patent 8,206,955. Polypeptides and biosynthetic pathways for the production of monatin and its precursors. U.S. Patent 7,572,607. Production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid in recombinant organisms, U.S. Patent 6,852,517. Microbial production of 1,2-propanediol from sugar, U.S. Patent 6,303,352. Microbial production of 1,2-propanediol from sugar, U.S. Patent 6,087,140. Novel glycerol phosphatase with stereo-specific activity. U.S. Patent 5,733,749. Polysaccharide composition and process for preparing same. U.S. Patent 5,288,618. Galactomannan polysaccharide producing organism. U.S. Patent 5,130,249.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Use as a biomarker == Dinosterol is used as a biomarker for organic matter derived from dinoflagellates in sediments and seawater. Biomarkers are organic compounds that are indicative of former life in sediments, seawater and oil. The presence of the saturated hydrocarbon counterpart, dinosterane, is used as evidence that some of the organic matter present in ancient sediments may have been derived from dinoflagellates.
In contrast to the maternal bond, paternal bonds tend to vary over the span of a child's development in terms of both strength and stability. In fact, many children now grow up in fatherless households and do not experience a paternal bond at all. In general, paternal bonding is more dominant later in a child's life after language develops. Fathers may be more influential in play interactions as opposed to nurturance interactions. Father–child bonds also tend to develop with respect to topics such as political views or money, whereas mother–child bonds tend to develop in relation to topics such as religious views or general outlooks on life. In 2003, a researcher from Northwestern University in Illinois found that progesterone, a hormone more usually associated with pregnancy and maternal bonding, may also control the way men react towards their children. Specifically, they found that a lack of progesterone reduced aggressive behavior in male mice and stimulated them to act in a fatherly way towards their offspring.
=== Determination of protein sequences === With their success in improving the analysis time for amino acids, Stein and Moore began to determine the structure of an entire protein molecule, specifically bovine ribonuclease, in the early 1950s. They determined the entire sequence of ribonuclease by 1960. This sequence combined with X-ray analysis of the crystallized ribonuclease lead to the determination of the nuclease's active site. Stein won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972 with Moore and Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, for their work on ribonuclease and "for their contribution to the understanding of the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the ribonuclease molecule."
Sections of human skin can be found in the collections of some museums. Some examples of this include books bound with human skin (anthropodermic bibliopegy) and preserved tattoos. The largest collection of the latter can be found in the Wellcome Collection at the Science Museum, London. American artist Andrew Krasnow has caused controversy in recent decades by creating pieces of contemporary art made of human skin. His works, which often make political statements, are composed of pieces of flesh from individuals who have donated their bodies to science. The skin itself has been preserved by tanning.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic tetrapeptide. Its sequence was derived from research on peptide fractions of bovine pineal extract, and the intact AEDG sequence has not been demonstrated as an abundant free peptide in human tissue.
AEDG is the one-letter code for the four amino acids alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine in that order. The same molecule is written in three-letter form as Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly.
Identity is normally confirmed by mass spectrometry against the calculated mass of roughly 390.35 g/mol. Purity is then estimated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection.
Epitalon is a synthetic four-amino-acid peptide with the sequence alanine–glutamate–aspartate–glycine, also written AEDG. It was developed in Russian gerontology research and is studied for proposed effects on telomerase, melatonin regulation, and neuroendocrine function. It is not an approved pharmaceutical in the United States or the European Union.