Pinealon

Pinealon is the synthetic tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg, also called the EDR peptide. Preclinical work on the Pinealon peptide has measured reactive oxygen species and cell death in cerebellar granule cells, neutrophils and PC12 cells, cognitive tests in the offspring of rats with prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia, uptake into the nucleus of HeLa cells with binding to DNA sequences, and dendritic spines in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models and aged human induced neurons. Research Market supplies Pinealon 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: C₁₅H₂₆N₆O₈
• Molecular weight: 418.40 g/mol
• CAS number: 175175-23-2
• PubChem CID: 10273502
• Amino acid sequence: Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR)
• Synonyms: EDR peptide; H-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH; L-glutamyl-L-aspartyl-L-arginine
• Form: Lyophilized powder
• Analytical methods: RP-HPLC for purity and mass spectrometry for identity, reported on the batch certificate of analysis

Research applications

• Oxidative stress in cultured cells: Pinealon restricted reactive oxygen species accumulation in a dose-dependent way in cerebellar granule cells, neutrophils and PC12 cells under oxidative stress, reduced necrotic cell death and delayed ERK1/2 activation [1]
• Prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia model: When pregnant rats on a methionine load received Pinealon, their offspring showed better spatial orientation and learning, and cerebellar neurons isolated from the offspring had lower ROS and fewer necrotic cells [2]
• Nuclear uptake and DNA binding: Fluorescein-labeled Pinealon entered the cytoplasm, nucleus and nucleolus of HeLa cells and, in vitro, bound preferentially to deoxyribooligonucleotides containing CNG and CAG sequences [3]
• Dendritic spines in 5xFAD mice: EDR prevented dendritic spine loss in 5xFAD mice, and docking studies found potential binding sites in promoter regions of CASP3, GAP43, APOE, SOD2 and PPARG [4]
• Aged induced neurons: In cortical neurons transdifferentiated from elderly donors’ fibroblasts, EDR increased dendritic arborization and reduced oxidative DNA damage without changing mitochondrial or lysosomal activity or p16 levels [5]

Reference citations

1. Khavinson V. et al. (2011). Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes. Rejuvenation Res, 14(5):535–541. PMID 21978084 · DOI
2. Arutjunyan A. et al. (2012). Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia. Int J Clin Exp Med, 5(2):179–185. PMID 22567179
3. Fedoreyeva L.I. et al. (2011). Penetration of short fluorescence-labeled peptides into the nucleus in HeLa cells and in vitro specific interaction of the peptides with deoxyribooligonucleotides and DNA. Biochemistry (Mosc), 76(11):1210–1219. PMID 22117547 · DOI
4. Khavinson V. et al. (2021). Neuroprotective effects of tripeptides-epigenetic regulators in mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Pharmaceuticals (Basel), 14(6):515. PMID 34071923 · DOI
5. Kraskovskaya N. et al. (2024). Short peptides protect fibroblast-derived induced neurons from age-related changes. Int J Mol Sci, 25(21):11363. PMID 39518916 · DOI

Compound data from PubChem CID 10273502. Literature summaries describe published preclinical research and are not claims about this product’s effects in humans or animals.