GHK-Cu
Also known as Copper tripeptide-1, GHK copper complex, Gly-His-Lys copper
GHK-Cu is the tripeptide Gly-His-Lys bound to copper(II). A research-use profile: the peptide-copper coordination chemistry that defines it, its research contexts, and how it's handled.
GHK-Cu is unusual among the peptides in this catalog because the interesting part is only half peptide. The other half is a metal ion. The molecule is the tripeptide glycine-histidine-lysine locked together with copper(II), and you cannot describe it honestly without describing that coordination.
What follows keeps to the chemistry that is actually established — the sequence, how the copper is held, and the research areas the complex appears in — and avoids the outcome and dosing language that has no place on a research-use page.
GHK-Cu is the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine (GHK) in complex with a copper(II) ion. The 'Cu' in the name is the coordinated metal, not a fourth residue — the histidine imidazole and the peptide backbone are central to how the copper is held.
The copper(II) coordination that defines it
GHK on its own is a simple three-residue peptide: glycine, histidine, lysine. What turns it into GHK-Cu is a bound copper(II) ion, and the pairing is not incidental. The histidine imidazole nitrogen, together with nitrogen atoms from the peptide backbone and the N-terminal amine, forms a coordination environment that holds the copper with notable affinity.
This is why the correct way to write the molecule is as a complex — GHK plus Cu(II) — rather than as a four-part peptide. The copper is a genuine structural component, and the peptide's characteristic blue color in solution is a direct visual signature of the copper coordination. That metal-binding chemistry is the whole reason GHK-Cu is treated as its own entity distinct from bare GHK.
Why the peptide-copper pairing matters to researchers
Copper is a biologically active transition metal, and small peptides that bind it in a defined geometry are of long-standing interest in coordination chemistry and biochemistry. GHK-Cu is one of the most-cited examples of a naturally occurring copper-binding tripeptide, which is why it appears across skin, matrix, and tissue-remodeling research literature.
Because the copper is central, characterization of GHK-Cu is as much about confirming the metal complex as confirming the peptide. A certificate of analysis should reflect that the material is the copper complex, not merely the free peptide — the two are chemically distinct.
Reading a GHK-Cu certificate of analysis
For a defined tripeptide-metal complex, a certificate should tie its purity to a method and a batch identifier so the peptide portion and its copper content can be verified against the intended structure. A figure with no method and no lot number is telling you less than it appears to. Every lot we list is tied to its own certificate — verify yours by its batch number.
These are research areas the compound is associated with in the literature — not medical claims or intended uses.
Handling & storage
Supplied lyophilized as the copper complex. Stored sealed and cold; reconstituted with bacteriostatic water only when a protocol requires it, then kept refrigerated. Its blue tint in solution reflects the coordinated copper. Handle per accepted laboratory practice.
Verify a certificate by lot →Common questions
Cu is copper — specifically a copper(II) ion coordinated to the GHK tripeptide. It is a bound metal that is part of the molecule, not a fourth amino acid.
It is the tripeptide GHK: glycine-histidine-lysine (Gly-His-Lys). The histidine in the middle is especially important because its imidazole ring helps coordinate the copper.
No. GHK is the free tripeptide; GHK-Cu is that peptide in complex with copper(II). The copper coordination makes the complex a chemically distinct species, which is why it is characterized as a copper complex rather than as bare peptide.
This monograph is a research-use reference. It describes composition and the contexts in which the compound has been studied — it is not medical advice, a description of effects, or a recommendation for use. Sold strictly for laboratory and research use; not for human or animal consumption.