Vesugen

1 Identity

Base synthetic tripeptide. Three proteinogenic L-residues, free alpha-amino N-terminus, free C-terminal carboxyl, no acylation, no amidation, no cyclization, no cysteine, no disulfide, no metal, no non-proteinogenic residue. Charge state is the governing physical fact: three carboxyl groups — the Glu2 side chain, the Asp3 side chain and the C-terminal acid — against two basic centers, the alpha-amino group and the Lys1 epsilon-amine. No aromatic residue, therefore no 280 nm chromophore. Supplied as the lyophilized acetate or trifluoroacetate salt, and on a 390 Da article the counterion is a substantial fraction of the vial rather than a rounding error. A trade name within the Khavinson "cytogen" line of defined synthetic short peptides, as distinct from the "cytomax" tissue-extract line — the two lines are not synonyms for one another.

Sequence

H-L-Lys-L-Glu-L-Asp-OH (KED). Three residues, all L, joined through the glutamate alpha-carboxyl. Free N-terminus, free C-terminal acid, no end-caps, no modifications, no disulfide. No Trp, Tyr or Phe, therefore no 280 nm chromophore. Supplied as the lyophilized acetate or trifluoroacetate salt, and the salt must be declared because at this molecular weight the counterion is not a rounding error. One point is carried openly here, as it is on the other trade-named short peptides in this catalog: "Vesugen" is a trade name, and the Lys-Glu-Asp assignment is an originator and vendor claim rather than a structure tied to a public reference standard. It is treated as unconfirmed until MS/MS with a fully assigned b/y series on a qualified lot confirms it — which on this article is mandatory rather than confirmatory, because five compositional isomers share the formula exactly. A chemical-database property page for the dipeptide H-Lys-Glu-OH, CAS 45234-02-4, lists "Vesugen VE20" among its synonyms: that is a chemical database asserting that this trade name denotes a different molecule.

Molecular formula

C15H26N4O8 (free base). Salt forms carried as separate formula units: mono-acetate C17H30N4O10; mono-trifluoroacetate C17H27F3N4O10. The formula is shared exactly by the five other orderings of the same three residues and by every stereoisomer, so it is not an identity statement on its own.

Average mass

Average mass 390.393 Da (C15H26N4O8, free base), computed from the formula and independently reconstructed residue-by-residue from Lys plus Glu plus Asp plus water; the two routes agree to the digit. Salt forms: mono-acetate 450.443; mono-trifluoroacetate 504.410. A single trifluoroacetate counterion is 114.02 Da, roughly 29 percent of the peptide's own free-base mass, so a vial certified as 100 mg of "Vesugen" with no net peptide figure may hold 65 to 70 mg of peptide. The number to read alongside this one is epitalon at 390.349: a 0.044 Da difference on average mass, which is invisible on any certificate rounded to one decimal place.

Monoisotopic mass

390.17506 Da neutral (C15H26N4O8). Working ions: [M+H]+ m/z 391.18234, [M-H]- m/z 389.16778, [M+2H]2+ m/z 196.09481. A plus or minus 5 ppm window on the neutral is plus or minus 0.0020 Da. Epitalon (AEDG) is 390.13868 — a gap of 0.03638 Da, which is 93 ppm at m/z 390: resolvable at the plus or minus 5 ppm this panel requires and invisible at anything coarser, including every nominal-mass and unit-resolution instrument. The five compositional isomers of KED are identical to this figure at every decimal place and no mass measurement of any kind separates them.

Salt / variant note

The article that sits closest to this one on mass is Epitalon. Epitalon (Epithalon), H-Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly-OH, C14H22N4O9, 390.349 average / 390.13868 monoisotopic. Read the two average masses together: 390.393 and 390.349, a difference of 0.044 Da. On any certificate rounded to one decimal place both articles print as 390.4, and on a unit-resolution or nominal-mass instrument they are one peak. The monoisotopic masses differ by 0.03638 Da, 93 ppm at m/z 390 — inside the tolerance of any instrument coarser than the one this panel specifies. The compositional isomers of KED itself — KDE, EKD, DEK, DKE, EDK — share the formula exactly and are identical at every decimal place of both average and monoisotopic mass; accurate mass at any resolution cannot separate them and only an assigned b/y ion series can. Add the gamma-linked glutamyl regioisomer and the beta-linked aspartyl regioisomer, both also exact. Salt forms, which matter more here than almost anywhere in the catalog: mono-trifluoroacetate 504.410 and mono-acetate 450.443; one trifluoroacetate is 29 percent of the peptide's own mass. Same-family analogues, each computed from its formula: Vilon KE C11H21N3O5 275.305 / 275.14812; Vesilut ED C9H14N2O7 262.218 / 262.08010; Cartalax AED C12H19N3O8 333.297 / 333.11721; Chonluten EDG C11H17N3O8 319.270 / 319.10156; Ovagen EDL C15H25N3O8 375.378 / 375.16416; Pinealon EDR C15H26N6O8 418.407 / 418.18121; Testagen KEDG C17H29N5O9 447.445 / 447.19653; Livagen KEDA C18H31N5O9 461.472 / 461.21218; Prostamax KEDP C20H33N5O9 487.510 / 487.22783; Pancragen KEDW C26H36N6O9 576.607 / 576.25438. Degradants with their own numbers: the aspartate succinimide at minus 18.011 Da and its iso-Asp ring-opening product at the parent mass, which is the pair that dates this molecule; N-terminal pyroglutamate is not available here because the N-terminus is lysine, which is a genuine stability advantage over the Glu-initiated members of the same family. And the sideways risk into the extract line: the Cytomax organ preparations share the brand lineage, the seller and the shelf, and have no mass at all.

2 Class & testing panel

Form

Single article

Testing panel

P1 — panel definitionRegiochemistry and chirality are numbered release tests on this article: alpha- versus gamma-glutamyl linkage, alpha- versus beta-aspartyl linkage, and per-residue D-content. Aspartate and glutamate racemize readily in short-sequence synthesis, and no achiral method and no mass method sees either failure

3 Primary sources & evidence

The index reports the design and provenance of the literature, not a conclusion about effect.

Literature exists at the level of the program rather than of this molecule, and is recorded by study type with no statement of effect. The Khavinson short-peptide class carries an evidence grade of D: animal and in-vitro work plus non-independent, largely Russian-language reviews from the originating institution, with no independently replicated randomized human trial located. Class citations carried: PMID 12374906, review; PMID 31808038, DOI 10.1007/s12015-019-09938-8, review and the source of the program's verbatim structural claim; PMID 11276315, rat study; PMID 23734519 and PMID 24003726, both reviews by the originating group rather than primary randomized trials, the second being the principal source of the class's human claims; PMID 32593244, review; PMID 35408963, DOI 10.3390/ijms23073607, in-vitro human cell line, internationally co-authored. No compound-specific primary publication for Vesugen under its own trade name was located in a search of 14 August 2026, and it is not among the members named in the primary studies above. No ClinicalTrials.gov registration was identified and no NCT number is quoted because none was found. No marketing authorization in any jurisdiction. The research page carries the field's objection to the program's central structural claim: a tripeptide has too few contacts to specify a unique genomic site, the proposition has not entered mainstream molecular biology, and no independent replication by an unaffiliated laboratory was located. That is a fact about the evidence base and not an accusation about any individual study.

4 Storage & specification

Storage

Lyophilized white to off-white powder in the sealed original container with in-pack desiccant, stored at -20 degrees C plus or minus 5 degrees C, desiccated and protected from light. The material is hygroscopic and the vial is equilibrated to room temperature sealed before opening, because condensation onto a cold cake moves the water figure enough to move the net peptide claim, and the net peptide claim is the label. For working stock, 2-8 degrees C for up to 30 days is the condition the in-use stability study will bracket. Frozen shipping with a validated shipper and a temperature logger is the default until the transit-excursion study reads out. Reconstituted solutions are refrigerated and used promptly.

Shelf life

Provisional retest interval 36 months at -20 degrees C plus or minus 5 degrees C in the sealed original container, provisional pending this company's own ICH Q1A-format stability data on three production lots. The interval is longer than the 24-month house default because an unmodified, disulfide-free, aromatic-free, methionine-free tripeptide with a lysine N-terminus is the most chemically stable class of article in this slice of the catalog — and the lysine N-terminus is a specific advantage, because it removes the pyroglutamate route that dates the Glu-initiated members of the same family. The stability-indicating attribute is the aspartate succinimide / iso-Asp pair, quantified at every time point, together with water content and counterion. The stability-indicating method must be demonstrated to resolve the succinimide at minus 18.011 Da from parent before the first lot is placed on stability; iso-Asp is at the parent mass and needs a chromatographic or enzymatic method rather than a mass one. Shortened on data, never extended without a completed dataset.