Vesugen

Vesugen is the synthetic tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp (KED), described by Khavinson-group authors as a vasoprotective peptide. Research on the Vesugen peptide follows two tracks. Vascular work looks at Ki-67, endothelin-1, connexins and sirtuin-1 in endothelial cell cultures, including atherosclerosis and restenosis models in vitro. Neural and stem cell work covers oral mesenchymal stem cell senescence, pineal explants and dendritic spines in an Alzheimer’s mouse model. Research Market supplies Vesugen 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: C₁₅H₂₆N₄O₈
• Molecular weight: 390.39 g/mol
• CAS number: 204271-66-9
• PubChem CID: 87571363
• Amino acid sequence: Lys-Glu-Asp (KED)
• Form: Lyophilized powder
• Analytical methods: RP-HPLC for purity and mass spectrometry for identity, reported on the batch certificate of analysis

Research applications

• Endothelial proliferation: Vesugen raised the proliferation marker Ki-67 in vascular endothelial cell cultures from young and old animals; docking placed it at the MKI67 gene core promoter [1]
• Atherosclerosis and restenosis in vitro: In normal, atherosclerotic and restenotic endothelium in vitro, KED normalized elevated endothelin-1, restored connexin expression and increased sirtuin-1 [2]
• Neuroimmunoendocrine explants: In organotypic cultures, Lys-Glu-Asp lowered p53 and raised Ki-67 in pineal gland tissue, with a stronger effect in cultures from old animals [3]
• Stem cell senescence: In human periodontal ligament and gingival mesenchymal stem cells at passage 25, KED lowered p16 and p21 mRNA 1.82- to 3.23-fold [4]
• Alzheimer’s disease model: In 5xFAD mice, KED and the related peptide EDR limited dendritic spine loss; docking found similar lowest-energy DNA binding sequences for both [5]

Reference citations

1. Khavinson V. et al. (2014). [Epigenetic aspects of peptidergic regulation of vascular endothelial cell proliferation during aging]. Adv Gerontol, 27(1):108–114. PMID 25051766
2. Kozlov K. et al. (2016). [Molecular aspects of vasoprotective peptide KED activity during atherosclerosis and restenosis]. Adv Gerontol, 29(4):646–650. PMID 28539025
3. Chalisova N. et al. (2012). Effect of tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp on physiological activity of neuroimmunoendocrine system cells. Bull Exp Biol Med, 153(4):569–572. PMID 22977872 · DOI
4. Sinjari B. et al. (2020). Short Peptides Protect Oral Stem Cells from Ageing. Stem Cell Rev Rep, 16(1):159–166. PMID 31677028 · DOI
5. 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

Compound data from PubChem CID 87571363. Literature summaries describe published preclinical research and are not claims about this product’s effects in humans or animals.