GHK-Cu
Also known as: Copper tripeptide-1
Naturally occurring tripeptide bound to copper. Studied for wound healing, skin remodeling and gene-expression effects related to tissue repair.

- Drug class
- Copper peptide complex
- Primary targets
- Copper transport / fibroblast signaling
- Dose reference
- Topical cosmetic ranges; no systemic dosing established
- Half-life
- Hours
- Developer / origin
- Pickart (discovery)
- Reference year
- 1973
- Evidence score
- 2/5 - Ingredient-level hair evidence
Ingredient-level hair evidence
GHK-Cu has skin-repair, delivery, and ex vivo hair-follicle evidence, but not strong finished-product human hair-regrowth trials.
Mostly animal, ex vivo, cell, or indirect evidence.
Evidence basis
- Ex vivo hair follicle data
- Skin regeneration reviews
- Topical delivery studies
How to read this entry
Dose references and half-life values are pulled from trial protocols, labels, reviews, or published summaries where available. They are context for research and comparison, not a personal dosing recommendation.
Status matters: approved drugs have regulated indications; investigational compounds are still being studied; research-only peptides do not have established human dosing, safety, or efficacy for consumer use.
GHK-Cu guides
Read the matching guide or adjacent research pages for more context.
Peptide calculators
Use calculators for concentration, unit conversion and repeated-dose accumulation math.
Compare with related peptides
Stay inside the same research category and compare mechanism, status and evidence quality.
Humanin
HN, MTRNR2
Humanin is a 24-amino-acid mitochondrial-derived peptide that limits stress-induced apoptosis by binding pro-apoptotic proteins (BAX, Bid/Bim) and IGFBP-3 intracellularly and by signaling extracellularly through FPR2/FPRL1 and the CNTFR/WSX-1/gp130 complex to activate JAK2/STAT3, ERK1/2 and AKT survival pathways.
Thymalin
thymus polypeptide fraction
Thymalin is a calf-thymus polypeptide complex proposed to act as an immunomodulator that promotes T-lymphocyte differentiation and maturation and normalizes cytokine and immune-cell balance, though its precise molecular receptor or target remains undefined.
Thymogen
Glutamyl-Tryptophan, gamma-glutamyl-tryptophan
Thymogen is a synthetic L-glutamyl-L-tryptophan dipeptide that acts as a thymic-peptide immunomodulator, promoting T-lymphocyte differentiation and peptide-MHC recognition, shifting IL-2 and interferon cytokine output, and enhancing neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis.
Vesugen
Lys-Glu-Asp tripeptide
Vesugen (Lys-Glu-Asp) is proposed to enter the cell nucleus and bind DNA and histones in gene promoter regions, modulating expression of vascular, senescence and neurogenesis genes rather than acting as a classical receptor agonist.
Category hub
Open the category page for the full comparison table and FAQ.