Bioregulator peptides:
the Khavinson short-peptide series
Two to four residues, a defined sequence, and a naming convention that gets used loosely. The series listed by sequence, the distinction the name hides, and what the short length changes at the bench.
The class
What a bioregulator peptide is
The name comes from the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, where a group led by Vladimir Khavinson spent the 1970s and 1980s isolating polypeptide fractions from animal organs: pineal gland, thymus, cartilage, vessels and others. In the 1990s the same group synthesised short peptides, two to four residues long, whose composition was modelled on the amino acids most abundant in those fractions. They called both families bioregulators.
That is a naming convention from one research group, not a pharmacological category recognised by any regulator. On this site the class is defined by what can be measured: a synthetic peptide of a defined sequence, two to four residues, from that series or built the same way. Epithalon and Cartalax are the two members carried, and both are listed in the bioregulators class.
Short length is the whole point of the class as a laboratory matter. There are few residues for the degradation routes in the stability guide to act on, the mass is unambiguous, and identity comes down to confirming a handful of residues in a known order against a reference standard.
Two families, one name
Cytomaxes and cytogens are not the same material
The word bioregulator covers two different things, and only one of them can be given a certificate that identifies a single molecule.
Cytomaxes: organ-derived complexes
Polypeptide fractions extracted from animal tissue. A mixture of many chain lengths, characterised by the tissue it came from rather than by a sequence. Mostly sold as oral capsules. A mixture has no single peak to confirm against a single reference standard.
Cytogens: synthetic short peptides
One defined sequence, two to four residues, made by solid-phase synthesis and supplied lyophilized. One molecule, one mass, one retention time. Every entry in the table below is a cytogen.
What the catalog carries
Cytogens only. The testing standard here requires identity confirmed against a reference standard and purity as a single-peak area percent, and a mixture cannot meet either. Nothing on this site is an organ extract.
The series
The Khavinson short peptides, by sequence
Sixteen synthetic sequences commonly grouped under the name. Names are the ones used in the published series; where a name carries a tissue, that is the fraction the sequence was modelled on, which is an origin fact and nothing more.
| Name | Sequence | One-letter | Residues | Named for | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epithalon | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly | AEDG | 4 | Epithalamin, the pineal fraction | In stock list |
| Cartalax | Ala-Glu-Asp | AED | 3 | Cartilage | In stock list |
| Pinealon | Glu-Asp-Arg | EDR | 3 | Pineal | Not carried |
| Vilon | Lys-Glu | KE | 2 | Not stated in the name | Not carried |
| Thymogen | Glu-Trp | EW | 2 | Thymus | Not carried |
| Livagen | Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala | KEDA | 4 | Liver | Not carried |
| Cortagen | Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro | AEDP | 4 | Cortex | Not carried |
| Vesugen | Lys-Glu-Asp | KED | 3 | Vessels | Not carried |
| Pancragen | Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp | KEDW | 4 | Pancreas | Not carried |
| Bronchogen | Ala-Glu-Asp-Leu | AEDL | 4 | Bronchi | Not carried |
| Testagen | Lys-Glu-Asp-Gly | KEDG | 4 | Testes | Not carried |
| Cardiogen | Ala-Glu-Asp-Arg | AEDR | 4 | Heart | Not carried |
| Ovagen | Glu-Asp-Leu | EDL | 3 | Not stated in the name | Not carried |
| Prostamax | Lys-Glu-Asp-Pro | KEDP | 4 | Prostate | Not carried |
| Chonluten | Glu-Asp-Gly | EDG | 3 | Not stated in the name | Not carried |
| Crystagen | Glu-Asp-Pro | EDP | 3 | Not stated in the name | Not carried |
Sequences are given as published for the synthetic peptides. For anything supplied here, the sequence that counts is the one on the certificate, confirmed by the laboratory against a reference standard. The organ-derived complexes are not listed because they are not single molecules.
Reading the table
Why the same residues keep recurring
The series is built from a small alphabet: alanine, glutamate, aspartate, glycine, lysine, arginine, proline, leucine and tryptophan. Glutamate and aspartate appear in almost every sequence, which reflects what the design was modelled on, the acidic residues abundant in the original organ fractions. Most members start with either Ala-Glu-Asp or Lys-Glu-Asp and differ only in the fourth residue, or in having none.
That has a consequence for testing. Five sequences share the Ala-Glu-Asp stem: Cartalax is the stem alone, and Epithalon, Cortagen, Bronchogen and Cardiogen add glycine, proline, leucine or arginine. Two tetrapeptides sharing three residues can sit close together on a reversed-phase gradient, so retention time is only an identity result when it is measured against the specific reference standard for that sequence, which is what the testing standard requires. Mass separates them without ambiguity, since the fourth residue adds 57, 97, 113 or 156 daltons respectively.
The one motif worth reading for is aspartate followed by glycine, which Epithalon and Chonluten carry at the C-terminus. It is the isomerisation and hydrolysis site the stability guide describes, and it is the reason a reconstituted vial of a four-residue peptide still has a shelf life measured in days rather than months.
At the bench
What two to four residues change
- Identity
- Unambiguous by mass, since members differ by whole residues. Retention time needs the correct reference standard because the shared stems elute close together.
- Solubility
- Short acidic sequences with no hydrophobic run dissolve readily in bacteriostatic water. The solubility troubleshooting guide is rarely needed for this class.
- Stability
- Few residues for oxidation or aggregation to act on: no methionine, no cysteine, and tryptophan only in Thymogen and Pancragen. Asp-Gly at the C-terminus of Epithalon is the motif to respect in solution.
- Net peptide content
- A short acidic peptide carries proportionally more counterion and water per milligram of powder. Where the certificate reports net peptide content, use it in the calculator rather than the label mass.
- Storage
- Lyophilized at minus 20 C, protected from light, like every other class. Reconstituted material refrigerated and used within the window the stability guide gives for solutions.
None of this is a statement about what any sequence does. It is what the length and composition mean for the instrument and the handling.
In the catalog
Bioregulators supplied here
Questions
Common questions
What are bioregulator peptides?
Very short synthetic peptides, two to four amino acids long, from the series developed at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology under Vladimir Khavinson. The sequences were modelled on the amino acid composition of polypeptide fractions isolated from animal organs. "Bioregulator" is that group's name for the class. It is a naming convention, not a category recognised by any regulator, and on this site the class is defined by structure: synthetic, two to four residues, of a defined sequence.
Are Khavinson peptides and bioregulator peptides the same thing?
In practice the two names are used for the same list. Khavinson peptides is the broader term, since it also covers the organ-derived polypeptide complexes the group produced first, which the group calls cytomaxes. The synthetic short peptides, which the group calls cytogens, are what this page lists and what the catalog carries.
How many bioregulator peptides are there?
Sixteen synthetic short peptides are commonly grouped under the name and are listed on this page by sequence. The organ-derived complexes are a separate and longer list, and are not single molecules, so they are not listed here.
Is Epitalon the same as Epithalon?
Yes. Epithalon, Epitalon and Epithalone are three spellings of the same tetrapeptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, CAS 307297-39-8. The spelling on a label says nothing about identity. The certificate does, because it states the sequence the laboratory confirmed against a reference standard.
Which bioregulators does SBz carry?
Epithalon and Cartalax, both synthetic, lyophilized, with a third-party certificate of analysis on the product page. The organ-derived complexes are not carried, because a mixture cannot be identified as a single peak against a single reference standard, and the testing standard here requires that.
How is a peptide this short tested?
The same way as any other compound: identity confirmed against a reference standard by chromatographic retention time, purity by reversed-phase HPLC at 214 nm reported as area percent. Short acidic peptides elute early on a reversed-phase gradient, so the laboratory runs the specific reference standard for the sequence rather than relying on a generic method. Mass separates the members of the series cleanly, since they differ by whole residues.
Why does this page not say what any of them do?
Because this site does not. Every compound page states structure, origin and molecular target, which are facts about a molecule that anyone can check. Outcomes in an organism are for the literature and for the researcher, and every item is supplied for laboratory research only.
Check it
Read the certificate for a bioregulator
Epithalon and Cartalax each have their latest certificate on the product page. Read the sequence the laboratory confirmed.
Elsewhere