Telomerase induction comes up often in conversation and rarely with the context attached. Here we lay out the basics in order, then work through the practical considerations.
Last reviewed on 2026-01-10. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
Chemically, the molecule consists of four amino acid residues joined by three peptide bonds, with a free N-terminal amino group and a free C-terminal carboxyl group. Its molecular formula is C14H22N4O9, and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 390 daltons. The acidic glutamate and aspartate side chains give the peptide a net negative charge near neutral pH, a property that shapes its chromatographic behaviour and solubility profile. No disulfide bridges or other post-translational modifications are present, so the primary sequence alone defines the structure.
Most experimental work has been carried out in cell culture and animal models. Several reports describe changes in telomerase activity and proliferation in cultured cells, while rodent studies have examined lifespan, melatonin rhythm and reproductive endpoints. Human data remain limited, and much of the published clinical material consists of small trials with incomplete reporting of methods and controls. Whether the cell and animal findings translate into measurable effects in people is an open question, and the mechanistic basis of the reported telomerase changes is not fully established.
Discussions in the literature often conflate three distinct entities: the pineal extract epithalamin, the isolated tetrapeptide AEDG, and commercial preparations sold under similar names. Reviews citing older Russian-language studies sometimes omit detail on purity, route of administration and control groups, which makes cross-study comparison difficult. Researchers working with the compound generally note the need for independent replication, standardized enzyme assays, and clearer reporting of peptide identity. These caveats are relevant when weighing claims that appear in secondary sources rather than in primary reports.
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. It was designed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology as a short, chemically defined analogue of epithalamin, a fraction obtained from bovine pineal tissue. Small peptide bioregulators of this type formed a long-running line of work there from the 1980s onward. Because the molecule is produced by solid-phase synthesis rather than extraction, its composition is exact and its purity can be measured directly.
The most frequently cited proposed action is induction of telomerase, the enzyme that adds repeat sequences to chromosome ends. Cell-culture work from the originating group reported higher telomerase reverse transcriptase expression and measurable telomere elongation in human somatic cells after exposure. How a four-residue peptide would reach nuclear gene regulation is not established, and no cell-surface receptor or uptake route has been identified. Additional reports describe changes in melatonin secretion, antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in aged animals, but these findings remain mechanistically unconnected to the telomerase observation.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Linear tetrapeptide | Four residues joined by three peptide bonds |
| Sequence | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly | Commonly abbreviated AEDG |
| Molecular formula | C14H22N4O9 | Free acid form |
| Monoisotopic mass | Approximately 390 Da | Matches values reported from mass spectrometry |
| Net charge near neutral pH | Negative | Contributed by glutamate and aspartate side chains |
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose sequence is alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, written in single-letter code as AEDG. The four residues are joined by three peptide bonds, giving a linear backbone with no branching and no disulfide bridges. Its calculated molecular mass for the free form is approximately 390.3 daltons, a figure that rises when the compound is supplied as an acetate or trifluoroacetate salt. Because the chain is short, the molecule is defined entirely by its residue order rather than by any folded three-dimensional structure.
The compound is described in the literature as a derivative of epithalamin, a preparation obtained from bovine pineal tissue. Work on this peptide family was carried out mainly by a research group in Saint Petersburg beginning in the 1980s, and the substance was later registered for clinical use in Russia under the name Epitalon. Outside that region it is generally treated as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Statements about its biological activity rest on a relatively small number of studies, and independent replication remains limited.
In its supplied form epitalon is a white to off-white powder, usually lyophilized and often hygroscopic. It dissolves readily in water and in aqueous buffers, and it is commonly handled as the acetate or trifluoroacetate salt to improve stability during purification and drying. The amide backbone is labile in aqueous media, so solutions are less durable than the dry solid. Handling notes in the chemical literature therefore emphasize keeping the powder dry, cool and shielded from light until it is dissolved.
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Because adult flies very rarely deposit eggs in live hosts, the age of the developing fly larvae can be used to estimate time of death. Fly larvae can also provide information regarding cause of death because necrophagous flies deposit their eggs in any open wounds.
== Function == Studies suggest that the human sirtuins may function as intracellular regulatory proteins with mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. Cytosolic functions of SIRT2 include the regulation of microtubule acetylation, control of myelination in the central and peripheral nervous system and gluconeogenesis. There is growing evidence for additional functions of SIRT2 in the nucleus. During the G2/M transition, nuclear SIRT2 is responsible for global deacetylation of H4K16, facilitating H4K20 methylation and subsequent chromatin compaction. In response to DNA damage, SIRT2 was also found to deacetylate H3K56 in vivo. Finally, SIRT2 negatively regulates the acetyltransferase activity of the transcriptional co-activator p300 via deacetylation of an automodification loop within its catalytic domain.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Although most serpins control proteolytic cascades, some proteins with a serpin structure are not enzyme inhibitors, but instead perform diverse functions such as storage (as in egg white—ovalbumin), transport as in hormone carriage proteins (thyroxine-binding globulin, cortisol-binding globulin) and molecular chaperoning (HSP47). The term serpin is used to describe these members as well, despite their non-inhibitory function, since they are evolutionarily related.
== Applications == SFC has been used primarily for separation of chiral molecules, mainly those which required normal phase conditions. While the mobile phase is a fluid in the supercritical state, the stationary phase is packed inside columns similar to those used in liquid chromatography. Since the use of normal phase mode of chromatography remained less common, so did SFC; therefore it is now commonly used for selected chiral and achiral separations and purification in the pharmaceutical industry.
The original colony of this mould, which proved to be Penicillium notatum, inhibited the growth of staphylococci in its vicinity, and fluid cultures of it contained a substance, since known as "penicillin", which was strongly inhibitory to the growth of various mainly Gram-positive bacteria. It came to be used at St. Mary's Hospital and elsewhere as an ingredient in selective culture media, and does not appear to have been considered as possibly useful from any other point of view. Although Ridley and Craddock had demonstrated that penicillin was soluble in ether, acetone and alcohol as well as in water – information that would be critical to its isolation – Fleming erroneously claimed that it was soluble in alcohol and insoluble in ether and chloroform, which had not been tested. In fact, penicillin is soluble in ethanol, ether and chloroform.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, often abbreviated AEDG. The molecule is linear and contains no modified residues, so it is fully described by its sequence.
The compound came out of work on epithalamin, a peptide preparation derived from pineal tissue, conducted largely in Russian laboratories. Later studies in other countries examined it mainly in cell cultures and animal models.
The tetrapeptide sequence is a synthetic construct rather than a described circulating peptide. It was derived by analogy to peptide fractions obtained from tissue extracts, not isolated from blood or tissue as such.
No. Epithalamin is a peptide-containing extract of bovine pineal glands, while epitalon is a single synthetic tetrapeptide. The extract contains many peptides and other tissue components, so its composition varies between batches in ways that a synthesised sequence does not.