This is a working overview of AEDG tetrapeptide, written for readers who want more than a one-paragraph summary but less than a textbook.
This page was last updated on 2025-10-27 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Published work on this compound consists mainly of in vitro experiments, animal studies, and small clinical investigations, a substantial share of which appeared in Russian-language journals. Sample sizes are generally small, control conditions differ between studies, and several endpoints rely on markers whose clinical meaning is itself debated. Reviews of the longevity field treat the peptide as an early example of telomerase-directed research rather than an established intervention. Regulatory treatment varies by country: some jurisdictions place it under prescription controls, others treat it as a laboratory material, and importation may be restricted regardless of local status.
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide whose sequence is alanine–glutamate–aspartate–glycine, commonly abbreviated AEDG. It was developed in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s by investigators associated with the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, who studied short peptides as regulators of gene expression and tissue function. The alternative spelling epithalon appears interchangeably in the literature, and the two names refer to the same molecule. Outside Russia it is encountered chiefly as a research chemical rather than a licensed medicine, and it holds no approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency.
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the amino acid sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, abbreviated Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly or AEDG. It was developed by the Russian researcher Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues during work on peptide bioregulators derived from the pineal gland. The compound is short enough to be produced by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis and is typically handled as a lyophilized white powder. Its small size distinguishes it from larger pineal peptides such as epithalamin, a complex extract from which the tetrapeptide was conceptually derived.
The four residues give epitalon a molecular formula of C14H22N4O9 and a molecular weight near 390.35 daltons. The presence of two acidic residues, glutamate and aspartate, makes the free peptide strongly acidic, while the alanine and glycine ends provide neutral, nonpolar character. This combination produces a molecule with substantial water solubility. Because there are no cysteine, methionine, or tryptophan residues, the peptide lacks the most common oxidation-sensitive side chains, which simplifies handling compared with many longer peptides.
The proposed relationship between epitalon and pineal function is a central part of its background. Khavinson's group reported that short peptides corresponding to regions of larger pineal proteins could influence gene expression in cells. Epitalon was framed as a synthetic analogue of an active fragment rather than a direct isolation product. Whether the tetrapeptide reproduces the effects of the parent extract is an open question, because comparative studies are limited and the parent extract itself is not a single defined substance.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Peptide sequence | Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly | Often abbreviated AEDG in research literature |
| Common synonyms | Epithalon, epitalon, AEDG | Spelling variants refer to the same tetrapeptide |
| Molecular formula | C14H22N4O9 | Theoretical monoisotopic mass near 390.35 Da |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typically supplied as a lyophilised solid |
| Solubility class | Freely soluble in water | Hydrophilic peptide; dissolves in aqueous buffer |
The compound is generally presented as a synthetic fragment of epithalamin, a pineal gland extract investigated in the former Soviet Union from the 1970s onward. Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues in Saint Petersburg developed short peptides modelled on such extracts, and epitalon became the most widely cited of those sequences. Most primary reports appeared in Russian-language journals or in proceedings with limited international circulation. Independent replication in laboratories outside that network remains sparse, and much repeated secondary material traces back to a small number of originating groups.
Laboratory work has examined effects on telomerase activity in cultured cells, on melatonin rhythms in animals, and on markers of oxidative stress. Some experiments report measurable changes while others show none, and the reported findings rest largely on small studies. The absence of large independent trials means the generality of these results is unresolved rather than settled. Review articles occasionally apply the label geroprotector, a term that reflects a research hypothesis about ageing rather than an established clinical finding.
Epitalon is the common name for a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence alanine-glutamate-aspartate-glycine, usually abbreviated AEDG. All four residues are proteinogenic amino acids, and the free peptide has a calculated mass near 390 grams per mole. Because the chain is short and carries no modifications, it is assembled readily by solid-phase synthesis and is distributed mainly as a freeze-dried solid for laboratory work. Catalogue listings use the spellings epitalon, epithalone, and simply AEDG, and the three refer to the same sequence.
== Murders and investigation == In June 2015, Mays began working as a nursing assistant at the Louis A. Johnson Veterans Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, with no certification or license to care for patients. Nursing assistants at the VAMC are not qualified or authorized to administer any medication to patients, including insulin. Mays was assigned to work overnight shifts on Ward 3A of the hospital's medical surgical unit in July 2017, when elderly patients began suffering mysterious acute drops in their blood sugar level. Over the course of eleven months, hospital staff eventually attributed the deaths of several patients on the ward to hypoglycemia. Many of the deaths were of individuals who were not insulin-dependent. Four of the deaths occurred within sixteen days. One patient, Archie Edgell, an 84-year-old Korean War veteran, initially suffered a drop in his blood sugar to 24 (a reading of less than 70 is low and can be harmful.) He was stabilized by staff, only to die after another plummet of his blood sugar a short time later. An autopsy later found that Edgell had been injected four times. The hospital began an internal investigation of eleven deaths. Mays was fired from the hospital in June 2018, and the investigation was turned over to the Inspector General for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A total of 112 patients on Ward 3A died while Mays was employed there as a nursing assistant. Of those deaths, 66 experienced one hypoglycemic event.
Gingras has published > 200 articles that have been cited > 35,000 times (Google Scholar; Feb 2020). In 2011, Gingras was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2015, Gingras was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her work on interaction proteomics, was awarded, alongside John Yates, the Discovery Award in Proteomics from the Human Proteome Organization (2019). She also received the Jeanne Manery Fisher Memorial Lecture award at the 2019 meeting of the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences.
The drug has been introduced for use in executions by lethal injection in certain jurisdictions in the United States in combination with other drugs. It was introduced to replace pentobarbital after the latter's manufacturer disallowed that drug's use for executions. Midazolam acts as a sedative, resulting in the prisoner being in a state of deep anesthesia comparable to that experienced during surgery. One or more other drugs are usually used to stop the prisoner's heart, rendering them medically dead. Midazolam has been used as part of a three-drug cocktail with vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride in Florida and Oklahoma prisons and has also been used along with hydromorphone in a two-drug protocol in Ohio and Arizona.
The mean daily doses of metformin at week 24 were 1,699 and 1,868 mg for the gemigliptin/metformin group and the metformin group, respectively. Mean change in HbA1c from baseline was –2.06% for gemigliptin/metformin group versus –1.24% for the gemigliptin group and –1.47% for the metformin group, respectively (P<0.0001 for all comparisons of combination therapy vs. monotherapy). The differences in proportions achieving an HbA1c <7% or <6.5% were also statistically significant (P<0.0001) between the combination therapy and the respective monotherapy groups. Add-on to metformin A 24-week, multinational, randomized, blinded, active-controlled study (study identifier: LG-DPCL006; ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT01602003) was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of gemigliptin 50 mg compared to the active control (sitagliptin) added to ongoing metformin therapy in patients with T2DM inadequately controlled with metformin alone (HbA1c, 7% to 11%). After 24 weeks, the reduction from baseline for HbA1c was 0.81% for gemigliptin 25 mg twice a day (bid) and 0.77% for gemigliptin 50 mg qd, and the differences in the least square mean changes from baseline between groups (each group of gemigliptin-sitagliptin group) were −0.011% in gemigliptin 25 mg bid and 0.004% in gemigliptin 50 mg qd. The proportion of patients achieving an HbA1c <7% at week 24 (gemigliptin 25 mg bid group, 50%; gemigliptin 50 mg qd group, 54.07%) was comparable to the results with sitagliptin 100 mg qd (48.87%).
== Analysis of cellular organization == Several approaches have been developed to analyze the location of organelles, genes, proteins, and other components within cells. A gene ontology category, cellular component, has been devised to capture subcellular localization in many biological databases.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Although the concept of viscosity is commonly used in fluid mechanics to characterize the shear properties of a fluid, it can be inadequate to describe non-Newtonian fluids. They are best studied through several other rheological properties that relate stress and strain rate tensors under many different flow conditions—such as oscillatory shear or extensional flow—which are measured using different devices or rheometers. The properties are better studied using tensor-valued constitutive equations, which are common in the field of continuum mechanics. For non-Newtonian fluid's viscosity, there are pseudoplastic, plastic, and dilatant flows that are time-independent, and there are thixotropic and rheopectic flows that are time-dependent. Three well-known time-dependent non-newtonian fluids which can be identified by the defining authors are the Oldroyd-B model, Walters’ Liquid B and Williamson fluids. Time-dependent self-similar analysis of the Ladyzenskaya-type model with a non-linear velocity dependent stress tensor was performed. No analytical solutions could be derived, but a rigorous mathematical existence theorem was given for the solution. For time-independent non-Newtonian fluids the known analytic solutions are much broader.
The game included a brawl shortly after half time sparked by Essendon's captain Matthew Lloyd knocking out Hawthorn midfielder Brad Sewell, which led Hawthorn's Campbell Brown, to label Lloyd a 'sniper', and promised revenge if Lloyd played on in 2010. North Melbourne – One of the fiercest rivalries in the AFL can be traced back to 1896, when several clubs, including Essendon, broke away from the Victorian Football Association to form the Victorian Football League. North sought to join the breakaway competition, but some argue this desire was not realised due to Essendon feeling threatened by North's proximity and the fact their inclusion could drain Essendon of vital talent. More than 100 years later, some North supporters have not forgiven Essendon for the decision and have blamed the Bombers for their small supporter base and gate revenue. North were finally admitted into the VFL in 1925 alongside Footscray and Hawthorn. In 1950, the two sides met in their first and only grand final meeting to date, which Essendon won by 38 points. The rivalry would flare up again in the 1980s. In 1982, the Krakouer brothers, Jim and Phil, led the Roos to an Elimination Final win. Essendon had their revenge a year later, winning a Preliminary Final by 86 points. The rivalry was re-ignited in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to the on-field success of the two sides.
=== Redox === Hydroquinone can be reversibly oxidised under mild conditions to give benzoquinone. Naturally occurring hydroquinone derivatives, such as coenzyme Q, exhibit similar reactivity, wherein one hydroxyl group is exchanged for an amino group. Given the conditional reversibility and relative ubiquity of reagents, oxidation reactions of hydroquinones and hydroquinone derivatives are of significant commercial use, often used at an industrial scale. When colorless hydroquinone and benzoquinone—bright yellow in solid form—are cocrystallized at a 1:1 ratio, a dark-green crystalline charge-transfer complex (melting point 171 °C), known as quinhydrone (C6H6O2·C6H4O2), is formed. This complex dissolves in hot water, dissociating both quinone molecules in solution.
Pancreatic ductal cells are the epithelial cells that line the pancreatic ducts which deliver enzymes from the acinar cells to the duodenum. They have the essential function of producing bicarbonate-rich (HCO3-) secretion to neutralize stomach acidity. The hormone secretin stimulates ductal cells and is responsible for maintaining the duodenal pH and preventing duodenal injury from acidic chyme. Ductal cells mix their production with acinar cells to make up the pancreatic juice. Ductal cells comprise about 10% of the pancreas by number and about 4% in volume. Its function is to secrete bicarbonate and mucins and to form the tubule network that transfers enzymes made by acinar cells to the duodenum. Ductal cells have a proliferation rate of about 0.5% in normal adults, but mitotic activity goes up when the pancreas is damaged.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Epitalon is a synthetic four-amino-acid peptide with the sequence alanine–glutamate–aspartate–glycine, also written AEDG. It was developed in Russian gerontology research and is studied for proposed effects on telomerase, melatonin regulation, and neuroendocrine function. It is not an approved pharmaceutical in the United States or the European Union.
No. Epithalamin is a peptide-rich extract prepared from bovine pineal glands, while epitalon is a short synthetic peptide designed as a defined analogue of it. The synthetic version was intended to provide a reproducible molecule with some of the same proposed biological activity.
Telomere elongation and telomerase activation have been reported in cultured human somatic cells, but evidence from living human subjects is limited and has not been independently confirmed at scale. Reported findings come largely from small studies with differing designs, so the question remains open rather than settled.
Epitalon is a synthetic tetrapeptide composed of four amino acids: alanine, glutamate, aspartate, and glycine. It is written as Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly. The free peptide has a molecular weight of about 390 daltons and is normally supplied as a lyophilized powder.