Compound Overviews
Who Discovered GHK-Cu? Loren Pickart and the Copper Tripeptide
The origin of the GHK copper-binding tripeptide, the researcher whose programme characterised it, and what the cell-culture literature reports. Research use only.
3 min read · Updated 2026-06-01 · VaultLabs Research Editorial · Reviewed by VaultLabs compliance review
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In the catalogue
Research Peptides
GHK-Cu 50/100mg
50 / 100 mg · Lyophilized
GHK-Cu is a copper-associated tripeptide sequence widely referenced as a laboratory standard in peptide and matrix research. This 50 mg lyophilized format is packaged for traceable handling with batch documentation available through our verification portal. For in vitro research use only — not for personal, cosmetic, or consumptive application.
From AED 249
Research Peptides
GHK-Cu Raw Powder
1 g / 20 g · Raw powder
GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1; CAS 89030-95-5; C₁₄H₂₂CuN₆O₄; MW 403.92 g/mol) in a 20 g sealed raw-powder research format for high-throughput and multi-assay laboratory programmes that prefer bulk copper-tripeptide stock over repeated vial replenishment. Chemically the same Gly-His-Lys copper(II) complex as our lyophilized vial line, cataloged as an independent presentation family with its own lot documentation — never interchangeable with 50/100 mg vial certificates. Correctly complexed material is visibly blue-green; colour loss on receipt is a reason to pause and check the published COA before the lot enters an experiment. Strictly for qualified in vitro analytical research — not for human, personal, cosmetic, medical, or consumptive application.
From AED 349
Research use only. For in vitro research use only. Not for human or animal consumption. Not for human consumption, medical use, or personal application.
A tripeptide found in human plasma
GHK is a three-residue sequence — glycine, histidine, lysine — that occurs naturally in human plasma. Its characterisation is associated primarily with the biochemist Loren Pickart, whose published work on the sequence spans several decades and whose name appears on much of the foundational literature.
Pickart's early work examined the tripeptide in cell culture. A 1981 paper in In Vitro described the use of glycylhistidyllysine in culture systems, which is among the earlier methodological accounts of handling the sequence experimentally.
The copper complex is the form of practical interest. GHK binds copper(II) with high affinity, and GHK-Cu refers to that complex rather than the bare peptide. The copper is not an additive: it is coordinated by the histidine imidazole and the peptide backbone, and the complex behaves differently from the free tripeptide.
For research and laboratory use only. Not for human consumption, medical use, or personal application.
What the literature reports
Published work concentrates on cell-culture systems: fibroblast behaviour, extracellular-matrix gene expression, metalloproteinase activity and oxidative-stress markers. Pickart reviewed the tissue-remodelling strand in the Journal of Biomaterials Science in 2008, and a 2012 review in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity surveyed the antioxidant literature.
More recent work has looked at coordination chemistry directly. Naletova and colleagues published on histidine-containing copper-binding peptides in Antioxidants in 2025, which is useful background for anyone characterising the complex analytically rather than biologically.
As with any copper complex, the analytical question is whether the material you hold is the complex or a mixture. Copper content and peptide purity are separate measurements, and a certificate that reports only one of them describes only half the material.
Why the distinction from AHK-Cu matters
AHK-Cu substitutes alanine for glycine at the first position. It is a different sequence with its own, much smaller literature — the frequently cited in vitro study by Pyo and colleagues in Archives of Pharmacal Research is one of few primary sources naming the complex specifically.
They are separate analytical targets. A method validated for GHK-Cu is not automatically valid for AHK-Cu, and lot documentation should never be shared between them.
For research and laboratory use only. Not for human consumption, medical use, or personal application.