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Compound guide
Kisspeptin: what the research covers
The peptide that sits above GnRH. Its discovery rewrote the top of the reproductive axis, and it came from a genetics finding rather than from a pharmacology programme.
What Kisspeptin is
Kisspeptin was found because of a receptor. Patients with a particular form of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism — absent puberty, low gonadotropins — were discovered to carry loss-of-function mutations in GPR54, now called KISS1R. That placed an unrecognised receptor at the top of the reproductive axis, and the search for its ligand produced kisspeptin.
The KISS1 gene encodes a fifty-four residue peptide, and the biological activity resides in its carboxy-terminal decapeptide. That fragment is kisspeptin-10, and it is what is supplied and studied: the shortest sequence that fully activates the receptor.
Its action is on GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus. Kisspeptin neurons in the arcuate nucleus and the anteroventral periventricular nucleus drive GnRH release, which in turn drives LH and FSH from the pituitary. Kisspeptin therefore sits one level above gonadorelin in the hierarchy.
Why an upstream position is experimentally useful
Acting above GnRH rather than at it preserves the pulse generator. Kisspeptin neurons are themselves the source of the pulsatility that GnRH release depends on, and stimulating them engages that machinery instead of overriding it. A GnRH agonist delivered continuously desensitises the pituitary; kisspeptin, acting on the neurons that generate the rhythm, has a different relationship to the system.
That has made kisspeptin the tool of choice for work on how the reproductive axis is switched on and modulated: the onset of puberty, the metabolic gating of reproduction through leptin signalling onto kisspeptin neurons, the oestrogen feedback that reverses sign between the two kisspeptin populations, and the integration of stress and energy status into fertility. There is also human experimental literature, which is uncommon for a compound at this stage.
The neurons also co-express neurokinin B and dynorphin, and the interplay between those three signals is the current model of pulse generation — a level of mechanistic detail that few systems in this catalogue can match.
How Amino Club supplies it
Supplied lyophilised in sealed vials as Kisspeptin, specified at 99% purity or better by HPLC with identity confirmed by mass spectrometry and released against the batch Certificate of Analysis; the lab testing page sets out the release sequence.
Kisspeptin-10 is cleared rapidly in biological systems and is not especially stable in solution, so laboratories prepare small working volumes and keep them cold and dark rather than holding stock. The sequence includes a tryptophan and a tyrosine, both oxidation-sensitive, which is a further reason to avoid prolonged exposure to air and light. The sealed powder is stored below −18 °C. Diluents are under reconstitution supplies.
Related reading
Kisspeptin sits in the sexual health and reproductive research peptides group with gonadorelin directly downstream, the gonadotropins HCG and HMG below that, and PT-141 and oxytocin acting on behaviour rather than on the endocrine chain.
Every guide is indexed in the research library. Certificates and storage are covered on the FAQ, quantity pricing through bulk and wholesale.
Research use only
Kisspeptin supplied by Amino Club is a laboratory reference material. It is not a medicine, not a supplement, and not for human or veterinary use, and no dosing guidance or administration protocol is provided. The full terms are in the research use policy.