Pinealon

Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide from the Khavinson bioregulator series, developed at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. PubChem indexes it as CID 10273502, the L-tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg, with the molecular formula C15H26N6O8, a molecular weight of 418.40 g/mol and CAS number 175175-23-2. The record also carries the synonym EDR peptide, the name most English-language work uses. Research-grade material is supplied as a lyophilized (freeze-dried) solid. Three residues is very small for a peptide, and that size governs how it behaves in an assay and on a column.

Unlike several compounds in this series, the sequence is not in dispute: databases, suppliers and the primary literature agree on Glu-Asp-Arg. The name is the part that misleads. Pinealon is fully synthetic, not an extract of pineal tissue, and the pineal reference is programme branding rather than a statement of source or target. Two points matter on a Certificate of Analysis: some lots are supplied as an acetate salt, which shifts observed mass away from the free-peptide figure above, and the arginine residue makes the molecule unlike the acidic peptides elsewhere in the series.

The programme began in the 1970s with polypeptide complexes prepared from animal organs, including the pineal preparation Epithalamin, then moved to minimal synthetic fragments said to carry the parent extracts’ activity. Pinealon belongs to that second generation and first appears in PubMed-indexed work in 2008.

The most cited experimental report describes cultured cells exposed to Pinealon, with changes in viability, free radical levels and proliferation (PubMed 21978084). A second investigated the tripeptide in rat offspring in a prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia model (PubMed 22567179). A later review from the same group proposes a gene expression mechanism for the EDR peptide (PubMed 33396470).The record is thin. PubMed returns roughly 22 items for pinealon, most from one group, many in the Russian-language journal Advances in Gerontology with English abstracts only. There is no published human trial, no toxicology package, and no independent reproduction of the central findings.

The mechanism proposed for this class is transcriptional: Khavinson and colleagues argue that very short peptides cross the cell and nuclear membranes, associate with regulatory regions of DNA, and shift expression of tissue-relevant genes. Fluorescently labelled short peptides showed nuclear entry in HeLa cells and selective binding to deoxyribooligonucleotides (PubMed 22117547), and a molecular dynamics study modelled how Glu-Asp-Arg approaches DNA and how ions affect it (PubMed 30762356). This is a hypothesis rather than established biochemistry.

Pinealon and Epitalon are often conflated, and the distinction is chemical. Epitalon is the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, C14H22N4O9, 390.35 g/mol. Pinealon is Glu-Asp-Arg: a different length, a different composition, and a basic arginine residue Epitalon lacks. Results for one do not transfer.

One caveat dominates the in vivo literature. Much of the animal work pairs Pinealon with Cortexin, a brain-derived polypeptide preparation that is itself a registered medicine in the Russian Federation and holds no approved indication in the United States, so effects attributable to the tripeptide alone are hard to isolate. Group sizes are small and endpoints mostly behavioural.

Sealed lyophilized Pinealon is held frozen at -20°C, shielded from light, in its original container. Lyophilized peptides are hygroscopic, so a container is allowed to reach 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. No preparation procedure appears here: solvent and concentration belong to a study protocol. Pinealon carries two free carboxyl side chains and one guanidinium group, a strongly zwitterionic and highly polar molecule handled as aqueous-soluble material.

That mixed charge distinguishes Pinealon from the purely acidic peptides in the series. Solubility and water-content figures for a lot appear on its Certificate of Analysis.

Identity and purity of research-grade Pinealon are established by reverse-phase HPLC and mass spectrometry. Verified purity is documented per lot on the Certificate of Analysis, and observed mass should be read against the stated salt form, not the free-peptide weight.

Very short, highly polar peptides retain poorly on standard reverse-phase columns, so method matters. Counter-ion content, typically acetate or trifluoroacetate, also shifts measured mass.

Pinealon belongs to a group of short peptide bioregulators from one programme.

• Epitalon.
  The tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, the compound Pinealon is most often confused with.
• Cartalax.
  Indexed as the tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp, the same length but acidic throughout.
• Vilon.
  The dipeptide Lys-Glu, the shortest member of the series.
• Thymalin.
  The thymus polypeptide preparation that preceded the synthetic peptides.

Khavinson V, Ribakova Y, et al. (2011). Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes. Rejuvenation Res.
PubMed 21978084

Fedoreyeva LI, Kireev II, et al. (2011). Penetration of short fluorescence-labeled peptides into the nucleus in HeLa cells and in vitro specific interaction of the peptides with deoxyribooligonucleotides and DNA. Biochemistry (Mosc).
PubMed 22117547

Arutjunyan A, Kozina L, et al. (2012). Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia. Int J Clin Exp Med.
PubMed 22567179

Silanteva IA, Komolkin AV, et al. (2019). Role of Mono- and Divalent Ions in Peptide Glu-Asp-Arg-DNA Interaction. J Phys Chem B.
PubMed 30762356

Khavinson V, Linkova N, et al. (2020). EDR Peptide: Possible Mechanism of Gene Expression and Protein Synthesis Regulation Involved in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Molecules.
PubMed 33396470

Pinealon is stocked in one format: sealed lyophilized vials from two supplier brands, listed at 10mg and 20mg fills. Vials are the only listed format for this compound, and per-vial strengths are product specifications only. Each lot is batch tested with a published Certificate of Analysis documenting verified purity, identity and the salt form for that lot.

• Browse all Pinealon research products
• Real Peptides Pinealon, 10mg lyophilized vial
• Verified Peptides Pinealon, 20mg lyophilized vial

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