Dermal and ECM biology studies the skin's structural layer: the fibroblasts that build it, the collagen and matrix they make, and how that matrix repairs. Five Artemis compounds appear in that work, GHK-Cu most of all. This page explains the models and lists the articles.
Research Articles
What Is GHK-Cu Studied For? The Research Record | Artemis Labs
GHK-Cu is a copper-bound tripeptide. The main scientific database describes it as a cosmetic ingredient, and two human trials in 34 years were both…
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Wound Healing Research: The Full Evidence Record
The one human wound trial of GHK-Cu matched placebo. The animal record is split: rabbits and rats healed faster, guinea pigs healed slower. What…
Read article →ArticleGHK vs GHK-Cu: Two Different Molecules | Artemis Labs
GHK is CID 73587 at molecular weight 340.38. GHK-Cu is CID 71587328 at 402.92. Six PubChem records answer to the name GHK-Cu, and one…
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Topical vs Systemic Evidence: What Transfers | Artemis Labs
Most human GHK-Cu results come from multi-ingredient cosmetic products applied to skin. Here is why that evidence cannot be read across to research-vial material.
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Skin Research: What the Two Human Trials Found
GHK-Cu has two human randomized trials in 34 years. Both tested topical creams, and both were negative on every objective skin measurement. The full…
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Sequence and Identity: CID, CAS, Mass | Artemis Labs
The verified identifiers for both molecules: GHK at CID 73587, 340.38, CAS 49557-75-7, and GHK-Cu at CID 71587328, 402.92, CAS 89030-95-5.
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Safety Research: What Has and Has Not Been Measured | Artemis Labs
The copper-toxicity record for GHK-Cu is mixed and mostly reassuring in cell studies. It is also almost entirely silent, because no human has been…
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Human Trials: Two in 34 Years, Both Null | Artemis Labs
GHK-Cu has exactly two human randomized trials, published in 1992 and 2006. Both were topical, and both were negative on every objective endpoint measured.
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Hair Research: Every Study Is Multi-Ingredient
Every human hair study involving GHK or GHK-Cu tested a mixed formulation with other active ingredients. No single-agent human hair study is indexed in…
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Gene Expression: Where the Claims Come From
The expansive gene-expression claims about GHK trace to reviews sharing one company address. The only independent primary study is a 2012 computational screen.
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Copper Biology: What the Research Reports | Artemis Labs
What published work reports about the copper in GHK-Cu: bound copper versus free copper salts, the biphasic curve, and where the peptide may not…
Read article →ArticleHow to Read a Certificate of Analysis for GHK-Cu | Artemis Labs
What a GHK-Cu COA should show: sequence Gly-His-Lys, CID 71587328, 402.92 for the complex and 340.38 for the copper-free peptide.
Read article →ArticleGHK-Cu Anti-Inflammatory Research: What Studies Report | Artemis Labs
A plain-language review of the published GHK-Cu inflammation literature: which studies used cells, which used mice, which used zebrafish, and what each one found.
Read article →ArticleBPC-157 vs GHK-Cu: How Their Research Differs
A plain-language comparison of BPC-157 and GHK-Cu: structure, size, the pathways each is studied through, the research areas each belongs to, and what neither…
Read article →ArticleBPC-157, TB-500, KPV, GHK-Cu: Mechanisms Across the Tissue-Repair Cascade
What published research says about BPC-157, TB-500, KPV and GHK-Cu: the models each has been studied in, where the human evidence stops, and why…
Read article →Related Products
What question does this field ask?
What tells a fibroblast to make matrix, and what happens to that signal with age or injury? The extracellular matrix is the scaffold cells sit in. Studies here read collagen synthesis, matrix-gene expression and wound closure in cell culture, in animal wounds and, increasingly, in engineered hydrogels that carry a peptide to the site.
Which compounds appear, and why?
GHK-Cu is the anchor: a copper tripeptide with a long fibroblast literature and, since 2026, a C. elegans aging study. KPV, BPC-157 and TB-500 enter through wound models, and the GLOW and KLOW blends combine them. Melanotan 2 is filed here for its pigmentation and analytical literature, not for any matrix effect.
What do the studies measure?
Collagen and elastin output, matrix-gene expression, fibroblast migration and closure rate in db/db mouse wounds. The 2003 thymosin β4 wound study is typical of the animal-wound model, and the 2020 fibroblast-aging comparison of two short peptides is the shape most bioregulator papers take. None of it is a human skin trial, and each article here names its model in the first paragraph.
How do the compounds compare?
| Compound | What it is | Sequence / formula | Molecular weight | Sources cited on its page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHK-Cu | copper(II) complex of the tripeptide GHK | Gly-His-Lys · Cu²⁺ | 340.4 g/mol (free tripeptide) | 11 |
| KPV | α-MSH C-terminal tripeptide (residues 11–13) | Lys-Pro-Val | 342.4 g/mol | 7 |
| GLOW | three-component blend: GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500 | see each component | per component | 23 |
| KLOW | four-component blend: KPV, GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500 | see each component | per component | 9 |
| Melanotan 2 | cyclic α-MSH analog, non-selective melanocortin agonist | Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-NH₂ | 1,024.2 Da | 11 |
Sequences and molecular weights are the values verified on each product page. "Sources cited" is the count shown on that page on 28 August 2026.
Where do I read more?
Every compound on this page is supplied for laboratory research only. Each product page carries its full reference list.
References
- Wen H et al. (2026). GHK-Cu delays aging in Caenorhabditis elegans via coordinated regulation of mitochondrial function and antioxidant pathways. Biogerontology. PMID 42084774
- Fridman NV et al. (2020). Comparison of the effects of KE and AED peptides on functional activity of human skin fibroblasts during their aging. Bull Exp Biol Med. PMID 33231794
- Philp D et al. (2003). Thymosin beta 4 and a synthetic peptide containing its actin-binding domain promote dermal wound repair in db/db mice. Wound Repair Regen. PMID 12581423