Cartalax

About Cartalax

Cartalax is the tripeptide alanine-glutamate-aspartate (Ala-Glu-Asp, also written AED or T-31), one of the short synthetic 'peptide bioregulators' developed by Vladimir Khavinson's group at the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. Each bioregulator in that series was designed to mimic the active fraction of an extract from a particular tissue; Cartalax corresponds to cartilage.

Research on it comes almost entirely from Russian laboratories and concerns the regulation of gene expression in connective-tissue and kidney cells, cell renewal in tissue cultures and ageing models. It is not approved as a drug anywhere.

Mechanism

Khavinson's model proposes that very short peptides pass into the nucleus and bind DNA at specific sequences, altering the transcription of genes involved in proliferation, differentiation and extracellular-matrix synthesis. Published cell-culture work reports changes in markers such as Ki-67, collagen and chondrogenic proteins after exposure to AED, but the mechanism has not been independently confirmed.

Areas of research

1. Studied for effects on chondrocyte proliferation in cell culture
2. Investigated in connective-tissue and musculoskeletal ageing models
3. Part of the short-peptide bioregulator research programme (St. Petersburg)
4. Stable tripeptide; straightforward reconstitution

References

1. Khavinson VK, Popovich IG, Linkova NS, Mironova ES, Ilina AR. Peptide regulation of gene expression: a systematic review. Molecules. 2021;26(22):7053. PubMed

Research use only. Information on this page is provided for educational and research purposes and summarises published literature, mostly from cell and animal studies; it is not a claim of efficacy or safety. Products are not intended for human or veterinary use, or for any diagnostic or therapeutic purpose.