Thymogen

Thymogen is the dipeptide L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan (Glu-Trp, EW). It was isolated by reverse-phase HPLC from a calf thymus peptide complex and then produced synthetically. The Thymogen dipeptide has also been studied outside the Khavinson group: researchers in Russia and the United States have examined its effects on natural killer cell activity, hematopoietic progenitors, tumor incidence in aging rats and liver injury models, and how its D-isomers behave differently. Research Market supplies Thymogen as a lyophilized research reagent, with purity and identity data for each lot reported on its certificate of analysis. It is sold strictly for laboratory research use.

Chemical structure and identification

• Molecular formula: C₁₆H₁₉N₃O₅
• Molecular weight: 333.34 g/mol
• CAS number: 38101-59-6
• PubChem CID: 100094
• Amino acid sequence: Glu-Trp (EW)
• Synonyms: Oglufanide; L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan; H-Glu-Trp-OH
• Form: Lyophilized powder
• Analytical methods: RP-HPLC for purity and mass spectrometry for identity, reported on the batch certificate of analysis

Research applications

• Aging and spontaneous tumors: In female outbred rats given the dipeptide for 12 months, the longest-lived 10% survived longer and total tumor incidence was 1.5 times lower than in controls [1]
• Natural killer cells: L-Glu-L-Trp inhibited tumor growth in mice without direct toxicity to tumor cell lines; the effect required NK cells and perforin and was partly IL-12 dependent [2]
• Hematopoietic progenitors: In mice, L-Glu-L-Trp did not change CFU-S proliferation in intact bone marrow, its D-isomers suppressed it, and post-irradiation L-Glu-L-Trp promoted regeneration of the progenitor population [3]
• Liver injury model: In rats with carbon tetrachloride hepatopathy, Thymogen and its D-Ala analogues suppressed peroxidation and stimulated hepatocyte regeneration, most strongly with D-Ala at the C-terminus [4]
• Monocyte inflammation: In differentiated THP-1 monocytes, Thymogen and four other short peptides inhibited LPS-stimulated TNF and IL-6 expression [5]

Reference citations

1. Anisimov V. et al. (2000). Immunomodulatory synthetic dipeptide L-Glu-L-Trp slows down aging and inhibits spontaneous carcinogenesis in rats. Biogerontology, 1(1):55–59. PMID 11707921 · DOI
2. Smith D. et al. (2003). Natural killer cell cytolytic activity is necessary for in vivo antitumor activity of the dipeptide L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan. Int J Cancer, 106(4):528–533. PMID 12845648 · DOI
3. Deigin V. et al. (2007). The effects of the EW dipeptide optical and chemical isomers on the CFU-S population in intact and irradiated mice. Int Immunopharmacol, 7(3):375–382. PMID 17276896 · DOI
4. Chulanova A. et al. (2023). Reparative and Antioxidant Effects of New Analogues of Immunomodulator Thymogen in Experimental Model of Liver Damage. Bull Exp Biol Med, 175(5):700–703. PMID 37861903 · DOI
5. Avolio F. et al. (2022). Peptides Regulating Proliferative Activity and Inflammatory Pathways in the Monocyte/Macrophage THP-1 Cell Line. Int J Mol Sci, 23(7):3607. PMID 35408963 · DOI

Compound data from PubChem CID 100094. Literature summaries describe published preclinical research and are not claims about this product’s effects in humans or animals.