In brief
Thymosin beta-4 is a small, naturally occurring peptide released by platelets, macrophages and other cells after injury. This review sets out what it does in repair: it binds actin and promotes the migration of cells, including the mobilisation and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells that form new vessels and regenerate tissue; it reduces apoptosis, inflammation and microbial growth; and it lowers the number of myofibroblasts in a wound, which the authors link to less scarring and fibrosis. The article covers the skin, eye, heart and brain, and in its expert-opinion section argues that the basic biology now justifies the clinical trials then under way or planned in dermal wounds, corneal injury and ischaemic injury to heart and nervous tissue.
Study design
Review of thymosin beta-4 biology and clinical prospects, by the group that has led its development as a drug candidate.
What it does not show
A review by authors involved in taking thymosin beta-4 to the clinic. The trials it anticipates are outside its scope, and the product sold as TB-500 is a research material, not the pharmaceutical peptide these trials used.
A review summarises other papers and inherits every limit of the work it cites. It adds no new experiment, and where a review is written by the group that developed the compound, the selection of what to include is theirs.
Where this paper is cited
- TB-500 — Review of thymosin β4 as an actin-sequestering peptide, its role in wound healing and cardiac repair, and early clinical work.
- BPC-157 + TB-500 — Review of thymosin β4 as an actin-sequestering peptide, its role in wound healing and cardiac repair, and early clinical work.
- GHK-Cu + BPC-157 + TB-500 + KPV — Review of thymosin β4 as an actin-sequestering peptide, its role in wound healing and cardiac repair, and early clinical work.
Other papers cited for TB-500, BPC-157 + TB-500 and GHK-Cu + BPC-157 + TB-500 + KPV
- Animal study PepT1-mediated tripeptide KPV uptake reduces intestinal inflammation Dalmasso et al. (2008), Gastroenterology
- Animal study Thymosin beta4 activates integrin-linked kinase and promotes cardiac cell migration, survival and cardiac repair Bock-Marquette et al. (2004), Nature
- Animal study Thymosin beta4 accelerates wound healing Malinda et al. (1999), J Invest Dermatol
- Review Brain-gut Axis and Pentadecapeptide BPC 157: Theoretical and Practical Implications Sikiric et al. (2016), Curr Neuropharmacol
- Review GHK Peptide as a Natural Modulator of Multiple Cellular Pathways in Skin Regeneration Pickart et al. (2015), Biomed Res Int
Further reading
- Research library: every paper cited on this site, by compound and by study type.
- Repair and recovery peptide comparison
- How to read a certificate of analysis
- Lyophilised peptide storage and stability
How this page was made: the citation was retrieved from PubMed by PMID and checked against the title on the product page; the summary was written from the paper's abstract and reports only what the abstract reports. Read the paper itself before relying on any figure here.