What is pinealon?
Pinealon is the synthetic tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg. Primary papers usually call it EDR. It is one of a series of short peptides created at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. These are studied as so-called peptide bioregulators. The group also includes epitalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly), vesugen and testagen. This research program proposes that the peptide binds DNA and histone proteins directly, in a sequence-selective way.
In that view, it does not act at a cell-surface receptor. No receptor for it has been reported. By the standards of better-studied peptides, published work is thin. Most of it comes from one group and those who work with it. Disguised Alpha supplies pinealon as a lyophilized powder for laboratory research use only. Nothing on this page is guidance for use in people.
Pinealon reference data
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Pinealon |
| Aliases | EDR peptide, Glu-Asp-Arg, H-Glu-Asp-Arg-OH (PubChem CID 10273502) |
| Sequence | Glu-Asp-Arg (L-glutamyl-L-alpha-aspartyl-L-arginine, PubChem CID 10273502) |
| Peptide class | Tripeptide |
| Molecular formula | C₁₅H₂₆N₆O₈ |
| Molecular weight | 418.4 g/mol |
| CAS number | 175175-23-2 (PubChem CID 10273502) |
| Salt forms in the literature | PubChem lists an acetate salt form under the same name |
| Form | Lyophilized powder |
| Size carried | 20MG |
| Testing | Third-party tested, with the certificate for each lot published on the product page and in the COA portal |
Formula, molecular weight, CAS number and size come from the pinealon product page. Sequence, aliases and the salt-form note come from PubChem. Check identity and measured content against your lot's certificate.
What the research covers
Published work on pinealon falls into five areas. Each summary below states the model used. The body of work is small. A PubMed search for the peptide and its EDR name returns fewer than 50 records. Several are false hits on the same three-letter string. A large share of the rest come from V. Kh.
Khavinson's group or labs working with the same institute. Several animal studies appear only in Russian-language journals with brief English abstracts. Several papers also test pinealon alongside other short peptides, not on its own. So it is not always clear which effects come from this sequence.
Oxidative stress in cell culture
The most direct cell work used rat cerebellar granule cells, neutrophils and PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. The cells were put under oxidative stress. The team then measured reactive oxygen species and necrotic cell death. The peptide limited the build-up of reactive oxygen species. The effect depended on concentration.
It also cut cell death, measured with propidium iodide. ERK 1/2 activation was delayed, and the cell cycle changed. The cell-cycle change went on at concentrations above those that saturated the effect on reactive oxygen species. So the authors proposed a second action at the level of the genome (Khavinson et al., 2011).
Interaction with DNA and chromatin
Fluorescein-labeled pinealon, epitalon and testagen all entered the cytoplasm, nucleus and nucleolus of HeLa cells. In parallel binding tests, each peptide quenched the fluorescence of labeled deoxyribooligonucleotides. The degree of quenching differed by sequence. Binding favored CNG-containing sequences and was sensitive to cytosine methylation status (Fedoreyeva et al., 2011).
An independent physical-chemistry group studied the same binding. It used spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. It also used viscosimetry and molecular dynamics. It reported that the peptide partly enters the major groove, with contacts at guanine N7 and O6. Magnesium ions promoted this binding (Silanteva et al., 2019).
Neuronal culture models
One study used primary mouse hippocampal neurons exposed to amyloid beta. There, 200 ng/mL of the tripeptide raised the number of mushroom spines by 71 percent. That brought the count back to the untreated level. A related tripeptide gave a 20 percent rise (Kraskovskaya et al., 2017). A 2024 study used a different model. It made cortical neurons from the skin fibroblasts of elderly donors by transdifferentiation. The authors reported more primary dendrites and greater total dendrite length with three short peptides. Lower oxidative DNA damage was specific to this sequence.
There was no change in mitochondrial or lysosomal activity, or in p16 levels (Kraskovskaya et al., 2024). In aging cultures of brain cortex cells, the peptide was reported to raise serotonin expression. Molecular docking was used to propose a binding site in the tryptophan hydroxylase gene (Khavinson et al., 2014). Organotypic pineal culture gave a contrasting finding. There, the tripeptide did not change expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 or the apoptosis marker AIF. A related tetrapeptide did (Khavinson et al., 2011).
Rodent models
One rat model loaded pregnant mothers with dietary methionine. This produced experimental hyperhomocysteinemia during pregnancy. Offspring of dams given the peptide were reported to do better in spatial orientation and learning tasks. Cerebellar neurons isolated from those offspring showed less build-up of reactive oxygen species. They also had fewer necrotic cells (Arutjunyan et al., 2012).
Russian-language reports describe antihypoxic activity in a hypobaric hypoxia model. Of four short peptides compared, the tripeptide was described as the most pronounced (Kozina, 2008). Other Russian-language reports cover behavioral and caspase-3 measurements in old rats under hypoxia or hypothermia. There, a polypeptide preparation had the larger effect on free-radical measures (Mendzheritsky et al., 2014; Mendzheritsky et al., 2015).
Mouse model of amyloid pathology and proposed epigenetics
In 5xFAD mice, a related tripeptide was given systemically each day for two months. It tended to raise neuroplasticity measures. Both peptides were reported to prevent loss of dendritic spines. The team also used molecular modeling and docking of the peptides into double-stranded DNA. This found candidate binding sites in the promoter regions of several genes.
The authors link these genes to the pathology (Khavinson et al., 2021). A review from the same group collects the proposed targets. They include caspase-3, p53 and superoxide dismutase 2. They also include glutathione peroxidase 1 and the PPAR transcription factors. The review openly says that the cell-entry and binding model is still an assumption (Khavinson et al., 2020).
Key studies
- Khavinson V, et al. "Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes." Rejuvenation Res. 2011. PMID 21978084. DOI 10.1089/rej.2011.1172. Rat cerebellar granule cells, neutrophils and PC12 cells under oxidative stress.
- Fedoreyeva LI, et al. "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). 2011. PMID 22117547. DOI 10.1134/S0006297911110022. HeLa cell culture plus fluorescence binding tests with defined oligonucleotides.
- Khavinson VKh, et al. "Effect of short peptides on expression of signaling molecules in organotypic pineal cell culture." Bull Exp Biol Med. 2011. PMID 22803060. DOI 10.1007/s10517-011-1473-y. Organotypic rat pineal culture: Ki-67, AIF and CGRP expression, with a null finding for this tripeptide.
- Arutjunyan A, et al. "Pinealon protects the rat offspring from prenatal hyperhomocysteinemia." Int J Clin Exp Med. 2012. PMID 22567179. Rat model: maternal methionine loading, offspring behavior and isolated cerebellar neurons.
- Khavinson VKh, et al. "Short peptides stimulate serotonin expression in cells of brain cortex." Bull Exp Biol Med. 2014. PMID 24909721. DOI 10.1007/s10517-014-2496-y. Aging brain cortex cell cultures plus molecular docking against the tryptophan hydroxylase gene.
- Kraskovskaya NA, et al. "Tripeptides Restore the Number of Neuronal Spines under Conditions of In Vitro Modeled Alzheimer's Disease." Bull Exp Biol Med. 2017. PMID 28853087. DOI 10.1007/s10517-017-3847-2. Primary mouse hippocampal neurons under amyloid synaptotoxicity.
- Silanteva IA, et al. "Role of Mono- and Divalent Ions in Peptide Glu-Asp-Arg-DNA Interaction." J Phys Chem B. 2019. PMID 30762356. DOI 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b10359. Physical chemistry: spectroscopy, NMR, viscosimetry and molecular dynamics of the DNA interaction.
- Khavinson V, et al. "Neuroprotective Effects of Tripeptides: Epigenetic Regulators in Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease." Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021. PMID 34071923. DOI 10.3390/ph14060515. 5xFAD mouse model plus molecular docking into promoter sequences.
- Kraskovskaya N, et al. "Short Peptides Protect Fibroblast-Derived Induced Neurons from Age-Related Changes." Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID 39518916. DOI 10.3390/ijms252111363. Induced cortical neurons from elderly donor fibroblasts: dendrite shape and oxidative DNA damage.
Handling and storage of lyophilized pinealon
General lab practice for this material:
- Store the powder at -20°C, away from light, until use. Storage guidance is on the product page.
- Let the sealed vial reach room temperature before opening. This keeps moisture from condensing on the powder.
- The peptide carries two acidic side chains and a basic arginine. This makes it highly water soluble. Prepare stock solutions in water or a neutral buffer, and record the pH you used.
- In the published assays, binding to nucleic acids was sensitive to divalent cations. Magnesium promoted the binding by screening the DNA phosphate groups (Silanteva et al., 2019). If you are repeating that work, hold buffer ionic makeup constant across comparisons.
- Published cell-culture concentrations are low. The neuron studies used amounts on the order of hundreds of nanograms per milliliter (Kraskovskaya et al., 2017). So check stock concentration by measured content. Do not assume the label mass.
- Once the powder is dissolved, keep solutions at 2 to 8°C and away from light. Split stock into single-use aliquots to avoid freeze/thaw cycles.
- Record the lot number and keep its certificate with your notes.
Frequently asked questions
What is pinealon?
Pinealon is the tripeptide Glu-Asp-Arg, also written EDR. It is one of a family of short peptides created in St Petersburg. It is studied mainly in cell culture and rodent models. The models cover oxidative stress and neuron shape.
Is pinealon the same as epitalon?
No. Pinealon has three residues (Glu-Asp-Arg). Epitalon has four (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly). They come from the same research program and are often tested side by side. That is why many papers cover both. At least one organotypic pineal culture study found a difference. The tetrapeptide changed marker expression, but this tripeptide did not (Khavinson et al., 2011).
Does pinealon have a known receptor?
None has been reported. Primary papers propose a two-step mechanism. The peptide enters the cell and nucleus. It then binds DNA and histones in a sequence-selective way (Fedoreyeva et al., 2011; Silanteva et al., 2019). The group's own review calls this cell-entry and binding model an assumption, not a settled finding (Khavinson et al., 2020).
How strong is the published evidence?
It is limited. A PubMed search for the peptide and its EDR name returns fewer than 50 records. Some are false hits on the same letters. Most of the relevant ones come from one institute or groups that work with it. Several of the animal reports are Russian-language papers with short English abstracts. Many studies test it together with other peptides. The independent work is the physical-chemistry study of the DNA binding, plus parts of the neuron culture work.
How should pinealon powder be stored?
Keep the lyophilized powder at -20°C and away from light. Once dissolved, store the solution at 2 to 8°C, away from light. Avoid freeze/thaw cycles. These steps are listed on the product page.
Where can researchers buy pinealon?
Disguised Alpha sells it for laboratory research. It is third-party tested, with the certificate published on the product page: Pinealon (20MG).
Related compounds and guides
- Epitalon: the tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly from the same peptide series.
- Vesugen and Cartalax: more short peptides from the same research.
- DSIP
- Epitalon research guide
- Vesugen research guide
- DSIP research guide
- COA portal: every published certificate, by lot.
This product is for research use only. It has not been evaluated for safety or effectiveness in humans. Not for human consumption. All products are intended for laboratory research purposes only.