GHK-Cu
GHK-Cu is the copper(II) complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, a sequence first isolated from human plasma in the 1970s. VaultLabs supplies it as blue-green lyophilised vials (50 mg / 100 mg) and as sealed raw-powder formats (1 g / 20 g) for in vitro extracellular-matrix, fibroblast-culture and copper-coordination chemistry research. It is not a cosmetic, supplement or medicine.
Research use only. For in vitro research use only. Not for human or animal consumption. Not for human consumption, medical use, or personal application.
Reviewed by VaultLabs Research Editorial Desk · Last updated 2026-08-03
Key facts
- Sequence is Gly-His-Lys, a three-residue peptide that coordinates a single copper(II) ion through the histidine imidazole and the peptide backbone.
- CAS registry number 89030-95-5; molecular formula C14H22CuN6O4; molecular weight 403.92 g/mol.
- The characteristic blue-green colour comes from the copper complex, not from an additive — a colourless GHK-Cu presentation is a reason to question the material.
- Cataloged in two presentation families: lyophilised vials (50 mg / 100 mg) and raw powder (1 g / 20 g), each with independent lot documentation.
- Published work is dominated by cell-culture and animal models of matrix remodelling and gene expression; there is no approved human indication for GHK-Cu as a medicine.
- VaultLabs releases each lot against an HPLC purity specification, with the certificate of analysis tied to the lot identifier on the unit.
- Chemical name
- Glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine copper(II) complex
- Common synonyms
- Copper tripeptide-1, GHK copper, tripeptide-1 copper
- Sequence
- Gly-His-Lys (copper complex)
- CAS number
- 89030-95-5
- Molecular formula
- C14H22CuN6O4
- Molecular weight
- 403.92 g/mol
- Appearance
- Blue-green lyophilised cake (vials) or blue-green raw powder (bulk formats)
- Catalog strengths
- 50 mg / 100 mg lyophilised vials; 1 g / 20 g raw powder
What GHK-Cu is
GHK-Cu pairs a very small peptide with a metal ion. The peptide itself — glycine, histidine, lysine — is only three residues long, but the histidine side chain and the amino terminus together form a binding site with unusually high affinity for copper(II). The result is a defined 1:1 coordination complex rather than a simple mixture of peptide and copper salt, and that distinction is what a purchasing laboratory is actually buying.
The free tripeptide GHK was identified in human plasma in the 1970s during work on factors that differed between young and older donors. Interest in the copper complex followed from the observation that GHK binds copper at physiological concentrations, which put it in the overlap between peptide chemistry and trace-metal biology. That dual character is still what most published work is about.
For a laboratory, the practical consequences are colour and stability. A correctly complexed lot is visibly blue-green in the vial; the intensity tracks the copper content. Material that arrives white or off-white has either not been complexed or has lost copper, and should be queried against its certificate before it enters an experiment.
Where the research literature sits
The bulk of the GHK-Cu literature is in vitro. Common model systems are dermal fibroblast and keratinocyte cultures, where investigators track transcript-level changes in matrix proteins, metalloproteinase activity and antioxidant response elements. A second strand of work is purely chemical: stability of the copper complex across pH, competition with other chelators, and analytical methods for confirming that copper is bound rather than free.
There is also a body of animal work in wound and tissue-remodelling models. Readers should treat these as preclinical model systems. Results in a rodent excisional wound or a cell monolayer do not establish an effect in humans, and VaultLabs makes no claim that they do.
GHK-Cu appears widely in cosmetic-science publications because copper peptides are used in topical formulations in some markets. That regulatory context is separate from research-material supply: a cosmetic ingredient dossier and a research reference material are different products with different obligations, and VaultLabs supplies only the latter.
Analytical characterisation and what the certificate shows
Each VaultLabs GHK-Cu lot is released against a reversed-phase HPLC purity specification. The chromatogram is the primary identity and purity evidence: retention behaviour consistent with the reference standard, a main peak meeting the stated specification, and no unexplained secondary peaks at significant area percent.
Copper peptides carry an extra qualification question that plain peptides do not. Purity by HPLC describes the peptide component; it does not by itself confirm copper stoichiometry. Laboratories that depend on the complex being intact should plan a confirmatory check appropriate to their instrumentation — UV-visible absorbance in the d-d transition region and mass spectrometry are both routine choices.
Every certificate is tied to the lot number printed on the vial. Enter that number in the batch verification tool to retrieve the published record rather than relying on a certificate forwarded by email, which cannot be traced back to a specific shipment.
Handling, reconstitution and stability
Sealed GHK-Cu — whether a lyophilised vial or a raw-powder unit — is the stable form. Store sealed material at 2–8 °C, protected from light and humidity, and allow containers to reach room temperature before opening so atmospheric moisture does not condense onto the powder. In Gulf conditions the transfer from courier to laboratory cold storage is the weakest point in the chain and is worth treating as a documented step.
Once reconstituted or dissolved for analytical use, the material is a solution of a metal complex and should be handled as one. Copper coordination is pH dependent, freeze-thaw cycling degrades small peptides, and trace chelators in buffers can strip the metal. Prepare working solutions close to the point of use, record the preparation date and diluent, and keep the number of thaw cycles low and logged.
Choice of diluent matters for how long a preparation stays usable. Bacteriostatic water supports short multi-draw use in a way sterile water does not, while sterile water suits single-session preparation. Neither choice substitutes for your own stability assessment under your storage conditions.
Regulatory position and permitted use
GHK-Cu supplied by VaultLabs is a research reference material. It is not registered as a medicine in the United Arab Emirates, it is not a supplement, and it is not supplied for human or veterinary use. Orders are accepted on that basis and the research-use declaration at checkout is part of the order record.
Buyers importing or transferring material within the UAE remain responsible for their own institutional approvals and for compliance with the rules that apply to their organisation. VaultLabs supplies documentation to support that process — lot-linked certificates, invoices showing the research-use classification, and batch records — but cannot approve a use case on a customer's behalf.
How VaultLabs supplies GHK-Cu
GHK-Cu is cataloged in 50 mg and 100 mg lyophilised vial presentations, plus a separate raw-powder line in 1 g and 20 g formats for laboratories that need bulk copper-tripeptide reference material. Each unit carries a lot identifier that resolves to a published certificate when one has been uploaded for that batch, and stock is held under controlled cold storage before dispatch across the seven emirates.
Vial and raw-powder families share the same compound identity but never share lot numbers or certificates. A COA published for a lyophilised lot does not qualify a raw-powder shipment, and the reverse is also true.
Laboratories comparing copper peptides usually evaluate GHK-Cu alongside AHK-Cu, which substitutes alanine for glycine at the first position. The two are cataloged separately with independent lot documentation so that a comparison study can cite distinct certificates rather than a shared one.
Research interest areas
Extracellular matrix remodeling
Fibroblast and keratinocyte culture models
Copper peptide stability assays
Cosmetic formulation research (in vitro)
Gene expression panel studies
Bulk copper-tripeptide reference stock preparation
Storage information
2–8 °C (lyophilized, sealed)
Store sealed lyophilized vials or raw-powder units at 2–8 °C, protected from light and humidity. After preparation into solution, follow institutional guidelines for short-term refrigerated storage of peptide solutions used in analytical workflows.
Stability notes
Sealed lyophilized vials and sealed raw-powder units are relatively stable when stored cold and dry. Prepared solutions require strict aseptic handling, minimal freeze-thaw cycles, and documented storage duration per laboratory SOP. Moisture control on opening is especially important for raw powder in Gulf humidity.
In vitro molecular registry
Registry entry for GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1). Specifications are resolved from the same source that generates the product page and the certificate of analysis.
| Chemical name | GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1) |
|---|---|
| CAS Registry Number | 89030-95-5 |
| Molecular formula | C14H22CuN6O4 |
| Average molecular weight | 403.92 g/mol |
| Amino acid sequence | Gly-His-Lys (copper complex) |
| Synonyms | Gly-His-Lys·Cu²⁺ |
| Purity specification | 99.90% |
| Analytical method | HPLC |
| Appearance | Blue-green lyophilized powder |
| Product code | VL-GHK-CU-100 |
| Regulatory status | For in vitro laboratory research use only — not for human or animal consumption |
Chain architecture
A copper(II) coordination complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine. The metal centre is chelated by the imidazole nitrogen of the histidine residue together with backbone amide nitrogen and the terminal amine, producing a square-planar coordination geometry. That complex is responsible for the characteristic blue-green colour of the lyophilized solid, which makes colour an immediate visual indicator of complex integrity: loss of colour indicates the copper centre has dissociated and the material present is no longer the complex named on the label.
Historical characterisation and entry into the analytical literature
The tripeptide was isolated from human plasma in the 1970s during fractionation work on plasma albumin, and its high affinity for copper(II) was characterised shortly afterwards, establishing it as one of the earliest well-defined endogenous metal-peptide complexes. That history is the reason it occupies an unusual position in the analytical literature: it is simultaneously a peptide standard and a coordination-chemistry standard, and it is routinely used to demonstrate that a separation method can resolve a metallated complex from its free apo-peptide — a discrimination many general-purpose peptide methods fail.
Receptor and pathway vectors reported in the literature
Pathways characterised in published preclinical and in vitro assay literature. No affinity constants are stated: values reported without their assay conditions are not comparable, and VaultLabs has not determined them independently.
- Copper(II) coordination equilibria, the defining binding interaction of the complex and the basis of its analytical identity
- Extracellular matrix protein expression endpoints in cultured fibroblast systems, as reported in preclinical model literature
- Metalloproteinase activity panels in in vitro assay literature for copper tripeptides
- Comparative metal-binding studies against related copper tripeptides such as the alanyl homologue
Use as an in vitro laboratory reference standard
- Metal-peptide complex reference standard in coordination-chemistry method development
- Resolution test article demonstrating separation of a metallated complex from its free apo-peptide
- Spectrophotometric standard exploiting the copper d-d absorption band, distinct from the 214 nm peptide-bond detection used for uncomplexed peptides
- Characterised comparator in preclinical cell-culture screening assays reported for copper tripeptides
- Stability-indicating method development where demetallation is the monitored transformation
Chromatographic and spectrometric behaviour
Detectable both by peptide-bond absorbance and by the copper d-d transition, which gives two orthogonal detection channels on a single injection and allows the complex and the free peptide to be distinguished by their absorbance ratio rather than by retention time alone. Mobile-phase composition must be checked before analysis, since acidic modifiers and chelating buffer components will demetallate the complex on-column and produce a chromatogram of the apo-peptide.
Stability profile
The copper centre is pH-labile. Acidic conditions and strong chelating agents in the diluent or mobile phase strip the metal and convert the material to free GHK, which is chromatographically and spectroscopically distinct. Confirm diluent composition before reconstitution, and regard any change in the blue-green colour as a disqualifying observation.
This registry entry describes analytical and preclinical in vitro laboratory context only. The material is an analytical reference material supplied strictly for in vitro laboratory research use only. It is not a medicine, food supplement or cosmetic, and it is not for human or animal consumption.
Selected literature
Named papers behind the statements on this page. Each entry resolves on PubMed and through its DOI, so you can read the source rather than take our summary of it. Inclusion describes the research record and is not a claim about this material’s suitability for any use.
The human tri-peptide GHK and tissue remodeling
Pickart L · Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition · 2008
Review of the GHK sequence and its matrix-remodelling literature by the group that first characterised it.
The human tripeptide GHK-Cu in prevention of oxidative stress and degenerative conditions of aging
Pickart L, et al. · Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity · 2012
Survey of copper-complex chemistry and the antioxidant endpoints reported in cell-culture systems.
Databases and verification
Registry and database entries for independent identity checks. These are standing searches rather than fixed records, so they stay current as new work is indexed.