Skin and cosmetic research peptides

Copper complexes, melanocortin agonists and signal peptides — the eleven compounds Amino Club supplies for dermal matrix, pigmentation and antioxidant research.

Three separate mechanisms

Skin and cosmetic research peptides are grouped by the tissue they are studied in rather than by any shared chemistry, and the group contains three quite different mechanisms.

The copper complexes come first. GHK-Cu is a naturally occurring tripeptide with high affinity for copper(II), investigated for effects on collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis and on the expression profile of dermal fibroblasts. AHK-Cu is a related but distinct tripeptide studied more narrowly in the context of follicular signalling. They are not interchangeable, and the GHK-Cu versus AHK-Cu comparison sets out where the evidence separates them.

The melanocortin agonists are the second group. Melanotan I is a selective MC1R agonist; Melanotan II is non-selective across the melanocortin receptor family, which is why its research profile is broader and less predictable. The Melanotan I versus II comparison covers that difference. Melanotan II is also supplied as a metered intranasal preparation.

Third are the signal peptides and antioxidant compounds: SNAP-8, an octapeptide studied for SNARE complex modulation, and Glutathione as the principal intracellular thiol antioxidant.

The blended preparations

Three products in this group are multi-component preparations rather than single sequences. GLOW and KLOW combine repair and cosmetic sequences in fixed ratios, and Lemon Bottle is a lipolytic preparation. Blends are convenient for screening work but they confound attribution: if a result appears, the blend cannot tell you which component produced it. Where the research question is mechanistic rather than exploratory, the single sequences are the better starting point.

The full group with current strengths is on the skin and cosmetic category page.

Purity, presentation and handling

Each compound is specified at 99% purity or better by HPLC with identity confirmed by mass spectrometry, and released against the Certificate of Analysis for its own batch, whose number matches the vial label. The release sequence is documented on the lab testing page.

Handling in this group deserves particular care. The copper complexes are light and pH sensitive in a way the rest of the catalogue is not, and glutathione oxidises readily once in solution, which changes what is actually present on the bench. Those notes sit on the individual product pages rather than as one instruction. Reconstitution consumables are listed under lab supplies.

Compound guides in this group

Individual guides to the compounds in this group.

GHK-Cu — a copper-binding tripeptide studied for dermal matrix signalling.
AHK-Cu — one residue different, and a follicle literature instead of a dermal one.
SNAP-8 — a competitive inhibitor of SNARE assembly, with a delivery problem.
Melanotan I — selective for MC1R, the pigmentation receptor.
Melanotan II — cyclic, non-selective, and a different compound entirely.
Glutathione — the cell principal redox buffer, and why delivering it is hard.

Research use only

All skin and cosmetic research peptides listed here are laboratory reference materials. They are not medicines, not cosmetics, not supplements, and not for human or veterinary use, and no dosing guidance or administration protocol is provided for any of them. The full terms are in the research use policy.