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�ƒŒ景与分子特征 — Background and Details

By Editorial Desk · published 2025-12-12 · last reviewed 2026-01-19 · News

Everything below concerns reversed-phase HPLC. We keep the language plain, cite what the science says, and separate well-supported claims from open questions.

Updated 2026-01-19. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.

背景与分子特征

从用途定位看,ipamorelin 目前主要以研究用肽的身份被讨论,未见主要药品监管机构将其批准为治疗药物。市售材料通常标注仅供研究使用,不得用于人体或诊断程序。文献中它常与生长激素促分泌素、GHS-R1a 激动剂、胃饥饿素拟似物等表述并列出现。既有研究的样本量普遍偏小,因此对其效应强度与一致性的描述应保持谨慎。

Ipamorelin 是一种合成五肽,序列为 Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2,分子式 C38H49N9O5,游离碱分子量约 711.85 g/mol。它属于生长激素促分泌素(GHS)家族,作用靶点是胃饥饿素受体 GHS-R1a。该化合物由诺和诺德的研究团队在二十世纪九十年代末报道,设计目标是提高对生长激素释放的选择性。C 端酰胺化与 N 端 Aib 残基是两个用于抵抗肽酶降解的结构特征。

Storage Stability and Analytical Verification

Lyophilized material is generally stored frozen and protected from light and moisture. Typical recommendations place dry powder at temperatures well below freezing, while reconstituted solutions are kept cold and used within a defined window. Repeated freezing and thawing should be avoided because it can promote aggregation and loss of material. The choice of solvent matters as well; compatibility with the intended diluent should be checked before preparation. These handling practices aim to preserve both the quantity and the integrity of the peptide.

Verification of identity and purity relies on analytical methods used across peptide chemistry. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separates components by hydrophobicity and provides a purity estimate. Mass spectrometry confirms molecular mass and helps detect modifications. Together these techniques give complementary information about whether a sample matches its expected structure. Results depend on method parameters and reference standards, so reported purity values are meaningful only when the analytical conditions are stated. Consistency between laboratories requires comparable protocols and well-characterized reference materials.

Ipamorelin at a glance

PropertyValueNotes
分子式C38H49N9O5五肽,C 端酰胺化
分子量约 711.85 g/mol游离碱形式
外观白色至类白色冻干粉研究用材料的常见形态
溶解性溶于水及 DMSO 等极性溶剂建议现配现用
储存温度-20 °C 或更低干燥、避光、限制冻融次数

Receptor Mechanism and Secretagogue Action

Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide that acts on the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, also known as the ghrelin receptor. Its sequence contains five amino acid residues, including a non-natural residue that increases stability against enzymatic breakdown. The compound was developed in the 1990s as part of research into small peptides that stimulate pituitary hormone release. Unlike larger protein hormones, it can be produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis and characterized by standard analytical methods.

At the receptor level, ipamorelin binds GHS-R1a and triggers signaling through Gq-coupled pathways. Activation leads to calcium release and downstream effects in pituitary somatotroph cells. These events promote the release of growth hormone into circulation. The response depends on the presence of the receptor and on the physiological state of the animal or tissue studied. Because the receptor is also found in other tissues, effects beyond the pituitary have been examined in laboratory models, though the extent of those effects remains an area of ongoing study.

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Analytical Characterisation and Storage

Purity assessment for this peptide relies mainly on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. A C18 column with a water-acetonitrile gradient containing trifluoroacetic acid separates the target from truncated sequences and oxidation products. Detection near 214 nm exploits the amide backbone, while the aromatic side chains allow additional monitoring close to 280 nm. Reported purity values depend on the method, so a certificate of analysis carries weight only when gradient, column and integration parameters are given.

Mass spectrometry confirms identity and reveals structural deviations that chromatography alone can miss. Positive-mode electrospray ionisation generally yields multiply charged ions whose deconvoluted mass is checked against the theoretical value. Amino acid analysis, and enzymatic digestion with subsequent fragment mapping, provide independent confirmation of sequence and of the terminal amide. Analysts take care to separate the target from deletion sequences, which may differ by one residue and therefore by only a small mass increment.

The lyophilised solid is normally held at -20 °C or colder, shielded from light and moisture. Stability in that state is measured in years, although shelf life depends on residual water content and the container seal. Once dissolved, the peptide is more fragile: aqueous solutions are commonly kept at 2-8 °C and used within days to weeks, and repeated freeze-thaw cycling is avoided. Strongly acidic or basic conditions accelerate hydrolysis, and prolonged exposure to them can strip the terminal amide.

Background and Structural Identity

Ipamorelin is a synthetic pentapeptide classified as a growth hormone secretagogue. Its sequence, Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2, combines three non-proteinogenic residues with a C-terminal amide. The N-terminal aminoisobutyric acid unit and the two aromatic D-amino acids distinguish it from peptides assembled only from standard L-amino acids. Its formula is C38H49N9O5, corresponding to an average mass near 711.9 Da. At neutral pH the molecule carries a net positive charge, a property that shapes its behaviour in chromatographic and electrophoretic systems.

The compound was developed at Novo Nordisk during the 1990s as part of a programme seeking secretagogues with improved selectivity. It was described in the peer-reviewed literature in 1998 alongside related pentapeptides from the same series. Investigators advanced it because it raised growth hormone output in animal models while leaving other pituitary hormones comparatively unaffected. The development code NNC 26-0161 appears in earlier reports, and ipamorelin later became the common designation in published work.

Background And Receptor Mechanism

At the molecular level, ipamorelin acts as an agonist at the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, also called the ghrelin receptor or GHS-R1a. Binding to this receptor on pituitary somatotroph cells triggers a signaling cascade that leads to growth hormone release. The effect is mediated through phospholipase C and calcium mobilization rather than through the cyclic AMP pathway used by growth hormone releasing hormone. The two pathways are complementary, and combined stimulation produces a larger response than either alone.

Compared with other secretagogues such as GHRP-2, GHRP-6, and hexarelin, ipamorelin is described as more selective. Published animal work reports little or no increase in adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol, or prolactin at doses that release growth hormone. This selectivity is the property most often cited in the research literature. Whether the same profile holds across species and dosing schedules remains an open question, since human data are limited and come largely from small studies.

Reference notes

Gary J. Patti is an American biochemist known for his research in metabolism and for using mass spectrometry to characterize biological processes. He is the Michael and Tana Powell Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Panome Bio and an Associate Editor for Clinical & Translational Metabolism. Biemann Medal, 2024 ACS Midwest Award, 2023 Academy of Science Innovation Award, 2016 Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Scholar Award, 2016 Pew Biomedical Scholars Award, 2015 Alfred P. Sloan Award, 2014 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2014 Gary Patti publications indexed by Google Scholar

Combination of TMA-2 with harmaline or ibogaine has been reported to result in long-lasting episodes complicated by severe psychomotor agitation. TMA-2's affinity (Ki) for the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor has been found to be 1,300 nM. Its EC50Tooltip half-maximal effective concentration at the receptor was 190 nM and its EmaxTooltip maximal efficacy was 84%. The drug was also active at the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor and, to a much lesser extent, at the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor. In an earlier study, its affinities (Ki) were 1,650 nM at the serotonin 5-HT2 receptor and 46,400 nM at the serotonin 5-HT1 receptor. TMA-2 is inactive at the monoamine transporters. It was inactive at the mouse trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1), whereas it bound to the rat TAAR1 with an affinity (Ki) of 3,100 nM and was not assessed at the human TAAR1. In terms of metabolism, TMA-2 is known to be at least partially O-demethylated in animals in vivo. It might produce 2,4,5-trihydroxyamphetamine (THA) as a metabolite. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of TMA-2 in humans are unknown.

Hydrostatic CCC or centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was invented in the 1980s by the Japanese company Sanki Engineering Ltd, whose president was Kanichi Nunogaki. CPC has been extensively developed in France starting from the late 1990s. In France, they initially optimized the stacked disc concept initiated by Sanki. More recently, in France and UK, non-stacked disc CPC configurations have been developed with PTFE, stainless steel or titanium rotors. These have been designed to overcome possible leakages between the stacked discs of the original concept, and to allow steam cleaning for good manufacturing practice. The volumes ranging from a 100 ml to 12 liters are available in different rotor materials. The 25-liter rotor CPC has a titanium rotor. This technique is sometimes sold under the name "fast" CPC or "high-performance" CPC.

Weak affinity chromatography (WAC) is an affinity chromatography technique for affinity screening in drug development. WAC is an affinity-based liquid chromatographic technique that separates chemical compounds based on their different weak affinities to an immobilized target. The higher affinity a compound has towards the target, the longer it remains in the separation unit, and this will be expressed as a longer retention time. The affinity measure and ranking of affinity can be achieved by processing the obtained retention times of analyzed compounds. Affinity chromatography is part of a larger suite of techniques used in chemoproteomics based drug target identification. The WAC technology is demonstrated against a number of different protein targets – proteases, kinases, chaperones and protein–protein interaction (PPI) targets. WAC has been shown to be more effective than established methods for fragment based screening. Affinity chromatography was conceived and first developed by Pedro Cuatrecasas and Meir Wilchek.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reference notes

The Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA was an influential conference organized by Paul Berg, Maxine Singer, and colleagues to discuss the potential biohazards and regulation of biotechnology, held in February 1975 at a conference center at Asilomar State Beach, California. A group of about 140 professionals (primarily biologists, but also including lawyers and physicians) participated in the conference to draw up voluntary guidelines to ensure the safety of recombinant DNA technology. The conference also placed scientific research more into the public domain, and can be seen as applying a version of the precautionary principle. The effects of these guidelines are still being felt through the biotechnology industry and the participation of the general public in scientific discourse. Due to potential safety hazards, scientists worldwide had halted experiments using recombinant DNA technology, which entailed combining DNAs from different organisms. After the establishment of the guidelines during the conference, scientists continued with their research, which increased fundamental knowledge about biology and the public's interest in biomedical research.

The topology of a β-sheet describes the order of hydrogen-bonded β-strands along the backbone. For example, the flavodoxin fold has a five-stranded, parallel β-sheet with topology 21345; thus, the edge strands are β-strand 2 and β-strand 5 along the backbone. Spelled out explicitly, β-strand 2 is H-bonded to β-strand 1, which is H-bonded to β-strand 3, which is H-bonded to β-strand 4, which is H-bonded to β-strand 5, the other edge strand. In the same system, the Greek key motif described above has a 4123 topology. The secondary structure of a β-sheet can be described roughly by giving the number of strands, their topology, and whether their hydrogen bonds are parallel or antiparallel. β-sheets can be open, meaning that they have two edge strands (as in the flavodoxin fold or the immunoglobulin fold) or they can be closed β-barrels (such as the TIM barrel). β-Barrels are often described by their stagger or shear. Some open β-sheets are very curved and fold over on themselves (as in the SH3 domain) or form horseshoe shapes (as in the ribonuclease inhibitor). Open β-sheets can assemble face-to-face (such as the β-propeller domain or immunoglobulin fold) or edge-to-edge, forming one big β-sheet.

Catherine E. Costello is the William Fairfield Warren distinguished professor in the department of biochemistry, Cell Biology and Genomics, and the director of the Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry at the Boston University School of Medicine. Catherine E. Costello attended the Emmanuel College in Boston for her undergraduate studies in chemistry, and minors in mathematics and physics. She received a Master of Science (1967) and a PhD from Georgetown University (1971). After graduation, she did post-doctoral research with Klaus Biemann at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reference notes

VIP is highly localised in lungs (70%) and binds with alveolar type II (AT II) cells via VPAC1. The biological (vasodilator) activity of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) was discovered in the lungs before the peptide was isolated and chemical identity characterized from intestine. VIP levels are also considerably high in the brain and the gut. It is localized in key sites in the lung, has potent activities on its major functions, and appears to play an important role in pulmonary physiology and disease. The principal localization of VIP-containing neurons in the tracheobronchial tree is in the smooth muscle layer, around submucosal mucous glands and in the walls of pulmonary and bronchial arteries. Immunoreactive VIP is also present in neuronal cell bodies forming microglia that provide a source of intrinsic innervation of pulmonary structures.

The PAH world hypothesis is a speculative hypothesis that proposes that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known to be abundant in the universe, including in comets, and assumed to be abundant in the primordial soup of the early Earth, played a major role in the origin of life by mediating the synthesis of RNA molecules, leading into the RNA world. However, as yet, the hypothesis is untested.

CPC Scientific’s manufacturing processes primarily use solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), first described by Robert Bruce Merrifield in 1963. SPPS allows peptides to be assembled stepwise on a solid support, enabling the preparation of long and complex sequences for use as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), investigational drugs, and research materials. Researchers associated with the company have published studies involving peptide synthesis methodologies, including work related to hydrocarbon stapling. Products manufactured by the company have been used and cited in various scientific studies. Official website

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Frequently asked questions

Ipamorelin 与 GHRP-6 有什么不同?

两者都是 GHS-R1a 激动剂,但 ipamorelin 在研究中显示出更高的生长激素释放选择性。早期资料显示它对皮质醇、催乳素与食欲的刺激弱于 GHRP-6。这些差异是相对程度,而非绝对区分。

Ipamorelin 是已批准药物吗?

公开资料中它主要以研究用肽的形式出现,未获主要监管机构批准用于治疗。可得材料通常标注仅供研究使用。任何临床用途的宣称都缺少监管依据。

为什么它的序列含有非天然氨基酸?

序列中的 Aib 与 D-2-Nal 等非天然残基可提高对肽酶的抵抗能力,并影响受体结合的构象。这类修饰在合成肽设计中较为常见。它们也使常规氨基酸分析需要额外步骤才能确认序列。

Aib 残基起什么作用?

Aib 即 α-氨基异丁酸,是一种非蛋白质源氨基酸,其侧链为两个甲基。它在肽链中倾向于诱导螺旋构象并限制骨架的柔性。这种刚性被认为有助于抵抗蛋白酶切割。

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