In brief
GHK is a three-residue peptide, glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, first isolated from human plasma, and it binds copper(II). The authors report that the copper complex, GHK-Cu, raised collagen synthesis in cultured fibroblasts. The effect appeared at picomolar concentrations, between 10⁻¹² and 10⁻¹¹ molar, and was largest at about 10⁻⁹ molar; it did not depend on any change in the number of cells, so the cells were making more collagen rather than there being more cells. The paper also points out that the GHK sequence occurs inside the alpha-2 chain of type I collagen, and suggests the tripeptide could be cut free by proteases at a wound and act locally. This is the paper most often cited for the collagen effect of GHK-Cu.
Study design
Fibroblast cultures; collagen synthesis measured against untreated cells.
What it does not show
A short 1988 culture study. It measured collagen synthesis in one cell type and did not test wound healing in any animal or person; the wound-healing role is stated as a hypothesis.
Cells in culture are not a tissue and not an organism. Concentrations, exposure times and the absence of circulation, immunity and metabolism mean a dish result says only that the molecule can act on that cell type under those conditions.
Where this paper is cited
- GHK-Cu — Fibroblast cultures: the GHK–copper complex stimulated collagen synthesis at nanomolar concentrations.
Other papers cited for GHK-Cu
- Review Regenerative and Protective Actions of the GHK-Cu Peptide in the Light of the New Gene Data Pickart & Margolina (2018), Int J Mol Sci
- 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.