Vesugen

Vesugen (Lys-Glu-Asp, KED) is a synthetic tripeptide developed by Prof. Vladimir Khavinson and colleagues at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, positioned as the vascular-endothelium-focused member of the institute's "cytogen" line of single-sequence synthetic bioregulator peptides. Vesugen shares its Lys-Glu-Asp N-terminal motif with several related Khavinson tetrapeptides, including Livagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala, liver, also built on this site), a naming and sequence-family relationship researchers should be aware of when evaluating claims across these related but distinct compounds.

At Verified Peptides, we want to note directly that Vesugen enters this Phase 5 build with a specific classification question already flagged: was it developed as a single defined-sequence synthetic peptide ("cytogen", like Vilon or Thymogen) or as a natural multi-peptide extract ("cytomax", like Glandokort)? We can confirm, based on consistent sourcing across multiple vendor and reference sources, that Vesugen is a single, defined-sequence synthetic tripeptide — a cytogen, not a cytomax — resolving that specific concern for this compound.

Chemically, Vesugen has molecular formula C15H26N4O8, molecular weight approximately 390.39 g/mol (independently cross-checked via manual atomic-mass calculation from the formula, which matched), PubChem CID 87571363. A CAS registry number, 161258-30-6, is cited by some vendors, though others list this identifier as unassigned or unavailable — a recurring pattern we have now observed across several Khavinson-associated cytogens in this catalog, and we present this CAS number with that caveat rather than asserting it with full confidence.

The broader biological context for a vascular-endothelium-focused compound is genuinely well established independent of Khavinson's own research: vascular endothelial cells line the interior surface of all blood vessels and play a central role in regulating vascular tone, blood clotting, and inflammatory responses, and endothelial dysfunction and reduced endothelial proliferative/regenerative capacity are recognized contributors to age-related cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis. This mainstream vascular biology provides the legitimate scientific backdrop against which Vesugen's proposed vasoprotective effects are framed, independent of whether this specific tripeptide has been independently shown to meaningfully influence that process.

At Verified Peptides, we think Vesugen occupies a specific, moderate position on this catalog's evidence spectrum for Khavinson-associated cytogens — better documented than Cardiogen (for which we located zero dedicated indexed studies in Phase 4) but, like every other Khavinson compound in this catalog, entirely reliant on research originating from the same institute that developed and sells it. The dedicated Ki-67/MKI67 molecular docking and cell-culture study (PMID 25051766) is a real, specific, indexed finding directly involving Vesugen, giving it a more concrete mechanistic anchor than several other Khavinson cytogens in this catalog.

Beyond this specific study, secondary and vendor sources describe Vesugen as having been studied in small, uncontrolled, single-center clinical settings in Russia for conditions including atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, and age-related cardiovascular decline, reportedly derived originally from research on animal aorta tissue. We want to be direct about the limitations of this broader clinical claim: we were not able to independently locate or verify these specific human studies against checkable, indexed primary sources beyond the cell-culture/molecular-docking paper cited above, and secondary summaries describing this research consistently note that any human studies that do exist are small, uncontrolled, single-center, and published only in Russian-language sources — a considerably lower evidentiary bar than a randomized controlled trial, and one we cannot independently confirm the details of.

No randomized controlled trial and no human pharmacokinetic data exist for Vesugen, and no FDA, EMA, or other Western regulatory body has evaluated or approved it for any indication. At Verified Peptides, we sell research-grade Vesugen exclusively for laboratory research, and we think researchers should weigh its one specific, real, indexed mechanistic finding (the Ki-67/MKI67 docking study) as genuine but narrow evidence, while treating the broader clinical and mechanistic claims circulating in commercial literature with the same caution warranted for other single-institute-lineage compounds in this catalog.

Vesugen's shared Lys-Glu-Asp N-terminal sequence with Livagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala, liver, also built on this site) illustrates a broader pattern across several Khavinson tetrapeptides and tripeptides, which secondary sources describe as also including Pancreagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp, pancreatic) and Prostamax (Lys-Glu-Asp-Pro, prostate) — a family of related but organ-specific compounds built around variations of the same core amino acid motif, none of which are interchangeable despite their structural similarity.

The Ki-67 protein that Vesugen's dedicated mechanistic study focuses on is a well-established, mainstream cell-biology marker used extensively and independently of any Khavinson research to assess proliferative activity in tissues — most notably in cancer pathology, where Ki-67 staining is a standard clinical tool for grading tumor proliferation rates. This gives the Vesugen/MKI67 docking study a point of connection to broadly recognized, independently validated cell-biology methodology, even though the specific claim about Vesugen's effect on this marker in aging vascular endothelium remains a single-institute finding.

Vesugen is reported to have originally been derived from research on animal aorta tissue, following the same general pattern seen across several Khavinson cytogens, in which a natural tissue-extract's bioactive short-peptide fragment is identified and then synthesized as a standalone compound — the same general "cytomax-to-cytogen" origin story documented for compounds like Vilon (from Thymalin) built earlier in this catalog.

The evidence-quality caveats appearing throughout this profile — single-institute authorship, no randomized controlled trial, no human pharmacokinetic data, small and uncontrolled human studies described only in Russian-language sources — closely mirror the pattern established across this entire family of Khavinson-associated cytogens in this catalog, and researchers evaluating any one of these compounds should apply the same level of scrutiny consistently rather than treating some as more credible than others without checking the underlying citations directly.

At Verified Peptides, we require independent third-party HPLC purity testing and mass spectrometry identity confirmation for every batch of research-grade Vesugen we offer, with a Certificate of Analysis (COA) available for each lot. As a three-residue peptide, Vesugen is straightforward to synthesize to high purity using standard solid-phase peptide synthesis methods.

We source exclusively from manufacturers operating under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-aligned quality systems, and every lot is independently verified rather than accepted solely on a supplier's internal documentation. Given the CAS registry inconsistency noted above, researchers seeking absolute identity confirmation should request direct mass spectrometry sequence confirmation from their supplier rather than relying solely on a listed CAS number.

Researchers should always request and review the specific COA for the lot they receive, confirming purity percentage and molecular identity before use in any experimental protocol.

Lyophilized Vesugen is stable when stored at -20°C, protected from light and moisture, and researchers can generally expect the unreconstituted peptide to maintain integrity over an extended period under these conditions. At Verified Peptides, we ship lyophilized peptide with appropriate cold-chain packaging to preserve stability in transit.

Once reconstituted with bacteriostatic water or another appropriate sterile diluent, Vesugen solution should be stored refrigerated at 2–8°C and used within the timeframe indicated on the product's documentation. As with other short peptides in this catalog, reconstituted solutions are generally less stable than the lyophilized form and more susceptible to degradation and microbial contamination with repeated freeze-thaw cycling.

Researchers should avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles of reconstituted material and should follow the specific storage guidance provided with each lot's documentation to preserve sample validity for research use.