Epitalon
Tetrapeptide from pineal gland research
Four amino acids, designed after a peptide extract of the pineal gland. Known for findings on telomerase in cell culture and for long-term studies in mice; the literature still comes predominantly from one research group in Saint Petersburg.
Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly
At a glance
- 01
Four amino acids
With only four building blocks, Epitalon is one of the smallest research peptides of all. Short peptides like this can be synthesised cleanly and characterised unambiguously by analytics.
- 02
Telomerase in cell culture
In human fetal fibroblasts, which normally do not produce telomerase, Khavinson and colleagues described in 2003 the activation of this enzyme and an elongation of telomeres. The finding is the starting point of almost every later discussion of the peptide.
- 03
Studies across a whole mouse lifetime
In a study spanning the entire lifespan of female mice, mean lifespan was unchanged, but maximum lifespan was 12.3 % higher and leukaemias occurred less often. Long-term designs like this are rare in peptide research.
Fields of research
- Telomerase and telomere biology
- Cellular senescence
- Pineal gland and circadian rhythm
- Biomarkers of ageing in animal models
What it is
Epitalon, also spelled Epithalon in the literature, is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycine. It was developed at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology around Vladimir Khavinson. Its model was epithalamin, a peptide extract from the pineal gland that had been studied there for decades. Epitalon was meant to reproduce the properties of this extract in a defined, synthetically producible form.
What makes it special
Through the hormone melatonin, the pineal gland controls the day-night rhythm and has long been suspected of being linked to ageing. Epitalon was designed specifically for this question and is therefore one of the few peptides studied in ageing research from the very beginning.
It became known above all for a finding on telomerase. This enzyme lengthens the telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with every cell division. In most body cells it is switched off. The claim that a tetrapeptide can activate it in cell culture has shaped the interest in Epitalon to this day.
What the studies say
Khavinson et al. (2003) added Epitalon to human fetal fibroblasts without telomerase activity. They describe formation of the enzyme’s catalytic subunit, measurable telomerase activity and an elongation of telomeres. The paper is short, and the finding has hardly been replicated outside the group.
Anisimov et al. (2003) treated female mice once a month from the third month of life until their natural death. Food intake, body weight and mean lifespan were unchanged. Maximum lifespan was 12.3 % higher, chromosome damage in bone marrow was less frequent, and leukaemias occurred six times less often; the total number of tumours stayed the same.
State of evidence
Preclinical: present, but one-sided. Clinical: no controlled studies. Almost all papers come from the same institute and its environment. Anyone researching Epitalon works in a field where independent confirmation of the central findings is still pending.
Research status
Epitalon is not approved as a medicine in the EU. PURA LABS supplies Epitalon for research use only, not for human or animal use.
Selected literature
- Effect of Epitalon on biomarkers of aging, life span and spontaneous tumor incidence in female Swiss-derived SHR miceLifelong study in female SHR mice. Mean lifespan unchanged, maximum lifespan 12.3 % higher, fewer chromosome aberrations and six times fewer leukaemias with an unchanged overall tumour rate.
- Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cellsIn telomerase-negative human fetal fibroblasts, Epitalon induced formation of the catalytic telomerase subunit, enzyme activity and elongation of telomeres.
Current batch
No released batch yet