If you have been reading about epitalon and want a single page that covers the useful parts, this is it: definitions, context, how it is studied, and the questions that come up repeatedly.
Updated 2026-05-14. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
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 with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, abbreviated AEDG. Its molecular formula is C14H22N4O9 and its calculated monoisotopic mass is approximately 390.35 daltons. The compound does not occur naturally as a free peptide; it is produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Because it contains two acidic residues and no basic residues, the neutral form carries a net negative charge at physiological pH. This charge profile influences how the peptide behaves in solution and during chromatographic analysis.
Identity and purity of epitalon samples are normally established by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection near 214 nanometres, combined with mass spectrometry. The mass spectrum confirms the expected molecular ion and can reveal truncated or oxidised by-products. Amino acid analysis after acid hydrolysis verifies that the four residues are present in the expected ratio. Certificates typically report a purity figure taken from chromatographic peak area, expressed as a percentage of total integrated signal.
Lyophilised epitalon is generally held at minus twenty degrees Celsius in a sealed container kept dry and dark. Cooler conditions are sometimes recommended for long-term archives. The solid takes up moisture readily enough that repeated opening of a vial introduces water, so dividing a batch into smaller portions before storage lowers degradation risk. Aqueous solutions are less durable than the dry powder and are usually prepared shortly before use, then kept cold and shielded from light to slow hydrolysis and oxidation.
Verification of research-grade material involves comparing a supplier chromatogram against an in-house reference, checking the observed mass against the calculated value, and where possible confirming residue order by tandem mass spectrometry or enzymatic peptide mapping. Purity claims should be read alongside the method used to obtain them, because detection wavelength and integration settings alter the result. Batch-specific data, rather than a generic grade statement, is the informative part of a certificate.
| 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 |
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.
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.
Stability depends strongly on pH, temperature and the presence of oxygen and trace metals. Cleavage of the backbone proceeds faster under neutral to alkaline conditions, whereas acidic solutions tend to slow that reaction. The aspartate and glutamate side chains can undergo deamidation or imide formation over time, generating closely related impurities. Published stability data specific to epitalon are sparse, so the usable life of a given solution is best regarded as an open question that depends on buffer composition, concentration and storage temperature.
Identity and purity are usually assessed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, frequently near 214 nanometers where the peptide bond absorbs. Mass spectrometry, most often with electrospray ionization, confirms the observed molecular mass and helps separate the intact peptide from truncated or modified forms. Amino acid analysis or tandem mass spectrometry can establish residue order. Purity is commonly quoted as an area percentage, yet such values are method-dependent, and comparisons between laboratories require matching column, gradient and detection wavelength.
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 residue sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. Its monoisotopic mass is approximately 390.35 daltons, and it is usually supplied as a lyophilised trifluoroacetate or acetate salt. The compound was derived from a pineal gland extract called epithalamin, a heterogeneous preparation investigated in the former Soviet Union. Researchers associated with the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology described the tetrapeptide as a constituent fragment of that extract. Commercial material is offered as a laboratory reagent rather than as a finished pharmaceutical product.
This has been supported by several organizations, including the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the Beckley Foundation, the Heffter Research Institute, and the Albert Hofmann Foundation, which exist to fund, encourage, and coordinate research into the medicinal and spiritual uses of LSD and related psychedelics. New clinical LSD experiments in humans started in 2009 for the first time in 35 years. As the drug is illegal in many areas of the world, potential medical uses have historically been difficult to study. Investigational uses of LSD include the treatment of alcoholism, anxiety, and depression, among other conditions. Another use is alleviation of anxiety in terminally ill cancer patients. A single dose of LSD may temporarily reduce alcohol abuse and some psychiatric symptoms, but evidence is limited and unreliable due to methodological flaws and unclear causation. In 2024, the FDA designated a form of LSD as a breakthrough therapy to treat generalized anxiety disorder which is being developed by MindMed. A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in September, 2025 explored the optimal dose of LSD to lower patients' anxiety. The study was conducted by the pharmaceutical company MindMed. The researchers compared how LSD doses of 25 μg, 50 μg, 100 μg, 200 μg, or placebo impacted anxiety scores among study participants. The results of the study found that 100 μg was the optimal dose to reduce anxiety among the studied patients.
== Early life and education == Cooper has said she became interested in science at the age of nine, when she learned that Isaac Newton had discovered gravity. Cooper attended King Edward VI Community College in Totnes. She completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemistry at the University of Warwick. After earning a doctorate, she was appointed an Experimental Officer in Fourier transform mass spectrometry. In 2000, she moved to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is located in Florida State University and continued her research in Fourier transform mass spectrometry.
==== The Annona ==== The first indication of a collective, organized food distribution system within the Roman Republic comes from the annona. Originally meaning "yearly return", the annona became the administrative term for governmental bread and grain distribution. Over time, annona came to represent the distribution of all pertinent foods in the Roman diet. The annona was originally organized between 500 and 50 BCE, and gained increasing influence in the centuries to come. The practice of specifically distributing grain to the plebeian class, known as frumentationes, gained prominence around 120 BCE and supplemented the efforts of the annona to feed the Roman people. Emperor Augustus officially changed the annona system between 8 and 14 CE. He established the position of praefectus annonae, Prefect of the Annona. Up to this point in time, the annona was handled by local government officials called aediles. Augustus’ Prefect of the Annona oversaw all transportation, weighing, inspection, and storing of state foods. The physical distribution of foods throughout the Roman Empire varied by location and type of food. Some foods were shipped by boat and then distributed once they reached port. Others, specifically meat, were transported by land and brought into urban areas. Special regulations were put in place for the distribution of olive oil, as the Empire made contracts with olive oil producers all over the Mediterranean. Free daily distributions of olive oil were enacted by Emperor Severus during his reign from 192 to 211 CE.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Hydrogen–deuterium exchange (also called H–D or H/D exchange) is a chemical reaction in which a covalently bonded hydrogen atom is replaced by a deuterium atom, or vice versa. It can be applied most easily to exchangeable protons and deuterons, where such a transformation occurs in the presence of a suitable deuterium source, without any catalyst. The use of acid, base or metal catalysts, coupled with conditions of increased temperature and pressure, can facilitate the exchange of non-exchangeable hydrogen atoms, so long as the substrate is robust to the conditions and reagents employed. This often results in perdeuteration: hydrogen-deuterium exchange of all non-exchangeable hydrogen atoms in a molecule. An example of exchangeable protons which are commonly examined in this way are the protons of the amides in the backbone of a protein. The method gives information about the solvent accessibility of various parts of the molecule, and thus the tertiary structure of the protein. The theoretical framework for understanding hydrogen exchange in proteins was first described by Kaj Ulrik Linderstrøm-Lang and he was the first to apply H/D exchange to study proteins.
== Further reading == "New Guidelines Seek to Provide Clarity on Food Expiration Dates". All Things Considered. U.S.: NPR. 17 February 2017. Includes a list of the many terms used in the United States food industry. Anonymous, "Cold Chain Management", 2003, 2006 Anonymous, Protecting Perishable Foods During Transport by Truck Archived 2014-05-16 at the Wayback Machine, USDA Handbook 669, 1995 Kilcast, D., Subramamiam, P., Food and Beverage Stability and Shelf Life, Woodhead Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84569-701-3 Labuza, T. P., Szybist, L., Open dating of Foods, Food and Nutrition Press, 2001; other edition: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004, ISBN 0-917678-53-2 Man, C. M., Jones. A. A., Shelf-Life Evaluation of Foods, ISBN 0-8342-1782-1 Robertson, G.L., Food Packaging and Shelf Life: A Practical Guide, CRC Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4200-7844-2 Steele, R., Understanding and Measuring the Shelf-Life of Food, Woodhead Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-85573-732-9 Weenen, H., Cadwallader, K., Freshness and Shelf Life of Foods, ACS, 2002, ISBN 0-8412-3801-4
population, comparable to White Americans. In 2018, the opioid crisis continued to disproportionately affect non-Hispanic Whites and Native Americans with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reporting a rise in opioid morbidity and opioid related fatalities. During 2019–2020, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native and Black individuals experienced the greatest increases in drug overdose mortality rates. Additionally, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black individuals had the highest opioid overdose rate 2020 and 2021. The percentage of individuals with documentation of prior treatment for substance use disorders was low, especially among Black individuals, at 8.3%. Overall, Hispanics, Native Hawaiians, and Asians experienced the lowest rate of overdose deaths. Though previous statistics show that non-Hispanic White Americans have been affected by the opioid epidemic more than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, recent statistics show that Black Americans are experiencing a sharper increase in opioid-overdose deaths. The annual percentage change of opioid overdose deaths among Black Americans increased to 26.16 from 2012 to 2018 while White Americans only experienced an 18.96 increase from 2013 to 2016 and even had an annual percentage change decrease to 5.07 from 2016 to 2018. The challenges that non-Hispanic Black Americans face have a disparate impact on the rates of opioid-overdose related deaths when compared to non-Hispanic White Americans who have not dealt with the challenges of structural racism.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== History == RO5073012 was first described in the scientific literature by 2012. It has been relatively little-studied compared to other TAAR1 partial agonists, for instance RO5166017, RO5203648, and RO5263397.
== Instrumentation and Performance == Initially the digital ion trap was constructed in form of a 3D ion trap, where the drive signal was fed to the ring electrode of the trap. Instead of scanning up the RF voltage, in the DIT, the frequency of the rectangular waveform signal is scanned down during a forward mass scan. This avoided the high voltage breakdown which set the upper limitation of a mass scan. Mass range of DIT up to 18,000 Th was demonstrated by use of an atmospheric MALDI ion source and was later expanded to cover m/z of a singly charged antibody at about 900,000 Th by Koichi Tanaka etc. The MOSFET switch circuit is responsible to provide the rectangular wave drive signal. The drive circuit of DIT is much compact compared to the RF generator with LC resonator circuit used for conventional sinusoidal wave ion trap. It also provides the capability of fast start up and fast termination of the waveform, which enables injection and ejection of ion with high efficiency. A field adjusting electrode placed adjacent to the entrance end-cap and biased with certain dc voltages helped to achieve good mass resolution for both forward and reverse mass scans, as well as for precursor isolation. With trapping voltage of +/- 1kV, a zoom scan resolving power of 19,000 was demonstrated.
Enhance the two laboratories' national security missions by substantially increasing engagement with the private sector and academic community. Stay at the forefront of the science, technology and engineering fields. Ensure a quality future workforce by expanding opportunities for open engagement of the broader scientific community.
In 1958, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claimed the discovery of element 102, now called nobelium. At the same time, they also tried to synthesize element 103 by bombarding the same curium target used with 14N ions. Eighteen tracks were noted, with decay energy around 9±1 MeV and half-life around 0.25 s; the Berkeley team noted that while the cause could be the production of an isotope of element 103, other possibilities could not be ruled out. While the data agrees reasonably with that later discovered for 257Lr (alpha decay energy 8.87 MeV, half-life 0.6 s), the evidence obtained in this experiment fell far short of the strength required to conclusively demonstrate synthesis of element 103. A follow-up on this experiment was not done, as the target was destroyed. Later, in 1960, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory attempted to synthesize the element by bombarding 252Cf with 10B and 11B. The results of this experiment were not conclusive. The first important work on element 103 was done at Berkeley by the nuclear-physics team of Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon Larsh, Robert M. Latimer, and their co-workers on February 14, 1961. The first atoms of lawrencium were reportedly made by bombarding a three-milligram target consisting of three isotopes of californium with boron-10 and boron-11 nuclei from the Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC). The Berkeley team reported that the isotope 257Lr was detected in this manner, and that it decayed by emitting an 8.6 MeV alpha particle with a half-life of 8±2 s.
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 usual approach is reversed-phase HPLC with ultraviolet detection, reported as a percentage of total peak area. Mass spectrometry is used alongside chromatography to confirm identity rather than purity alone.