This is a working overview of Tetrapeptide, written for readers who want more than a one-paragraph summary but less than a textbook.
Reviewed 2026-02-15. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Laboratory-grade epitalon is typically supplied as a lyophilized powder. Purity is commonly assessed with reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, often paired with mass spectrometry to confirm molecular identity. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping can provide additional confirmation of sequence. Certificates of analysis for research materials frequently report purity above 95 percent, although the methods behind such figures vary between suppliers. The absence of a pharmacopeial monograph means that no single standardized assay defines the compound, so reported results depend on the analytical protocol chosen.
Storage recommendations center on limiting moisture, heat, and light. The dry powder is generally kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius, and some suppliers recommend minus 80 degrees for long-term archival. Once dissolved, solutions are usually aliquoted and frozen to avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles, which can promote aggregation or degradation. Aqueous stability depends on pH and concentration, and buffered saline is often preferred over plain water for biological work. Stability data specific to epitalon remain limited, so general peptide-handling practices are applied by analogy rather than from product-specific validation.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C14H22N4O9 | Free acid form of the tetrapeptide |
| Molecular mass | About 390.35 Da | Calculated monoisotopic value |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typical lyophilized presentation |
| Solubility | Soluble in water | Also dissolves in buffered saline |
| Storage temperature | Minus 20 degrees Celsius | Dry, dark conditions; avoid repeated thawing |
Literature searches for this compound must account for several spelling variants. Indexing databases contain epitalon, epithalon, epithalone, and AEDG, and relevant records are scattered across Russian-language and English-language journals that do not consistently cross-cite. Early publications describe the parent extract as a mixture of many peptides, whereas later work addresses the single synthetic tetrapeptide. That shift in nomenclature complicates comparison between studies, because extract data and tetrapeptide data are sometimes cited interchangeably. A search strategy omitting the alternate spellings will return an incomplete set of references.
Reported biological findings come mainly from cell culture and rodent experiments. Those studies describe changes in telomerase catalytic subunit expression, melatonin rhythm amplitude, and antioxidant enzyme activity after peptide exposure. Human data are sparse and consist of small trials with limited blinding and inconsistent endpoints. The proposed mechanisms remain hypotheses rather than established facts, and there is no consensus on whether effects observed in animals carry over to people. Independent replication outside the original research groups is limited, which is a recognised gap in the published literature.
The parent extract epithalamin was characterised as a low-molecular-weight fraction of pineal tissue rather than a single defined chemical entity. Researchers fractionated it and tested successive fragments for activity, a screening approach typical of peptide discovery work in that era. Epitalon emerged from that process as one of the shorter sequences of interest. Because the original extract was never fully resolved into individual components, claims about which constituent drives a given effect rest on inference. This distinction matters when reading older reports that attribute extract observations to the tetrapeptide itself.
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.
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 four residues are alanine, glutamate, aspartate and glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. Its molecular formula is C14H22N4O9 and its monoisotopic mass is near 390.35 daltons. The peptide carries two acidic side chains, so it is neutral to negatively charged in most aqueous buffers. Published reference summaries usually list it under both spellings, epitalon and epithalon, and treat the two names as the same material.
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.
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In November 2007, Merck agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle most of the pending Vioxx lawsuits. The settlement required that claimants provide medical and pharmacy records confirming the occurrence of a heart attack, ischemic stroke, or sudden cardiac death; the receipt of at least 30 Vioxx pills within 60 days prior to the injury or death; and confirmation of Vioxx being used within 14 days of the Vioxx-related event. The settlement was generally viewed by industry analysts and investors as a victory for Merck, considering that original estimates of Merck's liability reached between $10 billion and $25 billion. As of mid-2008, when the plaintiff class had reached the threshold percentage required by Merck to go through with the settlement, plaintiffs had prevailed in only three of the twenty cases that had reached juries, all with relatively small awards. Merck has refused to consider compensation for Vioxx victims and their families outside the US. This is particularly true in the UK where there are at least 400 victims and the legal protection afforded to the victims and their families is particularly weak. According to internal e-mail traffic released at a later lawsuit, Merck had a list of doctors critical of Vioxx to be "neutralized" or "discredited". "We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live," wrote an employee. A Stanford Medical School professor said that Merck was engaged in intimidation of researchers and infringement upon academic freedom.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The 16-bit A register is the primary arithmetic and logic accumulator. The 16-bit B register is used for double-length arithmetic operations. The 16-bit program counter holds the address of the next instruction. A carry flag indicates arithmetic overflow. A 16-bit X index register provides for modification of the address of operands. The instruction set has 72 arithmetic, logic, I/O and flow-control instructions. Input/output instructions use the A register and separate input and output 16-bit buses. A 10-bit I/O control bus, consisting of 6 bits of device address information and 4 bits of function selection, is used. The basic processor has a single interrupt signal line, and an option provided up to 48 interrupts. In addition to a front-panel display of lights and toggle switches, the system supports different types of input/output devices. A Teletype Model 33 ASR teleprinter can be used as a console I/O device and (in the most basic systems) to load and store data to paper tape. Smaller systems typically use a high-speed paper-tape reader and punch for data storage. The Honeywell family of peripherals included card readers and punches, line printers, magnetic tape, and both fixed-head and removable hard disk drives. A rack-mounted configuration weighs around 120 pounds (54 kg) and used 475 watts of power. Honeywell advertised the system as the first minicomputer selling for less than $10,000. The Honeywell 316 has the distinction of being the first computer displayed at a computer show with semiconductor RAM memory.
== Career == Balalaie joined the faculty of K. N. Toosi University of Technology as an Assistant Professor (1997-2003), was promoted to Associate Professor (2003-2007), and has served as a Full Professor since 2007. Throughout his career, he has maintained research collaborations with German institutions through multiple Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowships, beginning in 2002. His collaborations include work at Heidelberg University, University of Freiburg, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, and the University of Duisburg-Essen. From 2015 to 2020, he served as the Scientific Ambassador of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Iran, facilitating scientific cooperation between Iranian and German researchers.
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Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Phosphocreatine, also known as creatine phosphate (CP) or PCr (Pcr), is a phosphorylated form of creatine that serves as a rapidly mobilizable reserve of high-energy phosphates in skeletal muscle, myocardium and the brain to recycle adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of the cell.
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== Physical properties == The compound appears as a dense, very refractive, colorless liquid with a pungent odor, insoluble in cold water, and prone to hydrolysis. Its tendency to smoke in air is low when the compound is pure, while the smoke increases with the presence of chlorosulfuric acid impurities, which are more prone to hydrolysis.
Features of the Early Lesion: Accentuation of features of the initial lesion, such as the considerably greater loss of collagen Accumulation of lymphocytes subjacent to junctional epithelium Cytopathic alterations in resident fibroblasts Preliminary proliferation of basal cells of junctional epithelium
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide built from four amino acids: alanine, glutamate, aspartate, and glycine. It is not extracted from a natural source but made in the laboratory by chemical synthesis. Its short length makes it relatively straightforward to produce at high purity.
No naturally occurring free form of the peptide has been described. The four-amino-acid sequence can appear as a fragment within larger proteins, but that is not the same as the intact compound being present as a circulating molecule. Materials used in research are synthetic.
Purity is usually checked by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, which separates the target peptide from related impurities. Mass spectrometry is commonly used alongside it to confirm molecular mass. Some suppliers also provide amino acid analysis for additional sequence confirmation.
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.