Cartalax

Cartalax is the trade name for a short synthetic peptide from the Khavinson bioregulator series, a family of di-, tri- and tetrapeptides developed at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. PubChem indexes Cartalax as CID 87815447, the L-tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp, with the molecular formula C12H19N3O8, a molecular weight of 333.29 g/mol and CAS number 85806-95-7. The record also carries the synonym T-31 peptide. Research-grade material is supplied as a lyophilized (freeze-dried) solid. At three residues it is a very small molecule by peptide standards, and that size shapes how it is assayed.

The naming needs care. Cartalax is a commercial designation rather than a term fixed by a primary chemistry paper, and secondary sources disagree: some describe a dipeptide Ala-Glu, others the tripeptide above, others a tetrapeptide. The database entry is the tripeptide, and that is what this page reports, but the sequence on a given lot should be read off its Certificate of Analysis rather than assumed from the trade name. This kind of ambiguity is characteristic of the series and is a genuine limitation for anyone planning work with it.

The programme behind Cartalax began in the 1970s with polypeptide complexes prepared from calf organs, then moved to minimal synthetic fragments proposed to carry the parent extracts’ activity. Khavinson and colleagues in St Petersburg have published its rationale over decades (PubMed 12374906; PubMed 19830585).

The group’s mechanistic case is set out in a review of peptide effects on gene expression (PubMed 34834147) and a shorter summary (PubMed 27909961). The most relevant experimental report is a Russian-language study by Povorozniuk, Khavinson and colleagues investigating cartilage-derived peptide preparations in ageing ovariectomized rats for their effect on bone mineral density (PubMed 18306703).

The literature for this class is thin: overwhelmingly from one group, much of it in Russian-language journals with English abstracts only, and largely not reproduced independently. There is no published human trial of Cartalax and no toxicology package.

The mechanism proposed for this class is transcriptional: Khavinson and colleagues argue that very short peptides enter cells and nuclei, associate with regulatory regions of DNA, and shift expression of tissue-relevant genes (PubMed 34834147). That is a hypothesis under argument rather than settled biochemistry, examined far more for other series members than for Cartalax.

Cartalax and Epitalon are often conflated; the distinction is chemical. Epitalon is the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, C14H22N4O9, 390.35 g/mol. Cartalax, as indexed, is Ala-Glu-Asp: the same three residues without the C-terminal glycine. They are neighbours in the series, not the same molecule, and results for one do not transfer.

Two caveats matter here. Much of the supporting work used tissue extracts rather than a chemically defined peptide, so the active species is inferred, not isolated. Sequence attribution is inconsistent across sources, so a study and a vial may not describe the same compound.

Sealed lyophilized Cartalax is held frozen at -20°C, shielded from light, in its original container. Lyophilized peptides are hygroscopic, so a container is brought to ambient temperature before opening.

Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided. Stability for a lot is documented on its Certificate of Analysis.

Reconstitution means returning a lyophilized compound to solution. This entry gives no preparation procedure: solvent and concentration belong to a protocol, not to a compound description. Cartalax carries two free carboxyl side chains and is a strongly acidic, highly polar molecule handled as aqueous-soluble material.

Very short peptides give weak signals in some assays owing to size. Solubility and water-content figures appear on the lot COA.

Identity and purity of research-grade Cartalax are established by reverse-phase HPLC and mass spectrometry. Verified purity is documented per lot on the Certificate of Analysis. Sequence confirmation is the specification detail that matters most, because the trade name does not fix the sequence and a dipeptide, tripeptide and tetrapeptide differ in mass.

Short, very polar peptides retain poorly on standard reverse-phase columns, so the method matters. Counter-ion content also shifts peptide mass.

Cartalax sits within a group of short peptide bioregulators from one programme.

• Epitalon.
  The tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, Cartalax plus a C-terminal glycine, and the most extensively published member of the series.
• Vilon.
  The dipeptide Lys-Glu (entry forthcoming).
• Pinealon.
  The tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg (entry forthcoming).
• Thymalin.
  A thymus-derived polypeptide preparation, predecessor of the synthetic peptides (entry forthcoming).
• Cardiogen, Ovagen, Prostamax and Testagen.
  Further programme compounds on the same evidence footing (entries forthcoming).

Khavinson VKh (2002). Peptides and ageing. Neuro Endocrinol Lett.
PubMed 12374906

Povorozniuk VV, Khavinson VKh, et al. (2007). Effect of peptide regulators on the structural and functional status of bone tissue in ageing rats. Adv Gerontol.
PubMed 18306703

Anisimov VN, Khavinson VKh (2010). Peptide bioregulation of aging: results and prospects. Biogerontology.
PubMed 19830585

Khavinson VK, Lin’kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI (2016). Short peptides regulate gene expression. Bull Exp Biol Med.
PubMed 27909961

Khavinson VK, Popovich IG, et al. (2021). Peptide regulation of gene expression: a systematic review. Molecules.
PubMed 34834147

Cartalax is stocked in one format: sealed lyophilized vials from two supplier brands, both listed at a 20mg fill. Vials are the only listed format in this catalog. Per-vial strengths are product specifications only. Each lot is batch tested with a published Certificate of Analysis documenting verified purity and identity, which here also serves as the sequence reference.

• Browse all Cartalax research products
• Verified Peptides Cartalax, 20mg lyophilized vial
• Real Peptides Cartalax, 20mg lyophilized vial
• Collections: Research Vials. Documentation: COA and Lab Testing.

These products are sold for Research Use Only and are not intended for human consumption.