Description
Vesugen is the synthetic tripeptide Lys-Glu-Asp (KED), which its St. Petersburg developers describe as vasoprotective and have studied mainly in cultured vascular cells, with newer work in stem-cell, neuron and mouse models. Pure Peptides Canada supplies it as a lyophilized research reagent in 20 mg vials, with an independent Janoshik HPLC and mass-spectrometry report, CAD pricing and tracked shipping from inside Canada.
Vesugen at a glance
- What it is: L-lysyl-L-glutamyl-L-aspartic acid (KED), a synthetic tripeptide from Vladimir Khavinson’s bioregulator programme.
- What researchers study: Ki67, p16 and p21 in ageing vascular and stem-cell cultures, endothelin-1 and connexin signalling in endothelial cells from atherosclerotic donors, and dendritic spines in an Alzheimer’s-model mouse.
- Evidence level: mostly in-vitro work plus an Alzheimer’s-model mouse study, nearly all co-authored by the developers; the key human endothelial study used a single donor per condition. We found no peer-reviewed controlled trial in people.
- Supplied as: sealed lyophilized powder, 20 mg, single vial or box of 10.
- Delivery: ships from inside Canada by tracked Xpresspost in 3–7 days ($25 CAD), or free in 4–12 days on orders over $299.
Vesugen
Lys-Glu-Asp · KED tripeptide · vascular bioregulator
- K
- E
- D
Lysine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid.
- Length
- 3 amino acids
- Molecular formula
- C15H26N4O8
- Molecular weight
- ≈ 390.4 g/mol
- Family
- Khavinson short-peptide bioregulators
- Form
- Lyophilized powder, sealed vial
- Sizes
- 20 mg (single or box of 10)
- SKU
- PP-VESUGEN
Where the evidence stands
- Cell studies
- Animal models
- Controlled human trials
- Approved medicine
Published work comes mainly from the group that developed it. Vesugen is not an approved medicine.
What is Vesugen?
Vesugen is three amino acids long: lysine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid, written KED in one-letter code. Its developers at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology associate it with blood vessels and call it vasoprotective. That label describes their hypothesis and the cell work that followed; it is not an established effect in living blood vessels.
In the catalogue, KED is the opening sequence of four longer tetrapeptides: Livagen (KEDA), Pancragen (KEDW), Prostamax (KEDP) and Testagen (KEDG). Drop the aspartic acid and you have Vilon (KE). That makes Vesugen a natural baseline for asking what each added residue changes. It also differs from Pinealon (EDR), another tripeptide it has been tested beside, in carrying its positive charge at the start of the chain (lysine) rather than the end (arginine). In the developers’ 2016 docking survey of 19 bioregulators, KED was rated a weak DNA binder with a predicted preference for the sequence GCCG, while Pinealon and Cardiogen were rated very strong.
Every study cited below includes Khavinson or his St. Petersburg colleagues among the authors, most experiments use cultured cells, and the human vascular data come from very few tissue donors. The findings are leads for laboratory work, not settled biology.
What published studies report
- Ki67 in ageing vascular cultures. Khavinson and colleagues (Advances in Gerontology, 2015) cultured vascular explants from 3- and 24-month-old rats, and rat aortic endothelial cells at passage 3 and passage 14. Vesugen increased the area stained for the proliferation marker Ki67 by roughly 1.8- to 2-fold in the older cultures, and by less in the young ones. A docking model in the same paper placed KED on the promoter of MKI67, the Ki67 gene; that interaction was not tested in the laboratory.
- Endothelial cells from atherosclerotic donors. Kozlov and co-workers (Uspekhi Gerontologii, 2016) grew human aortic endothelial cells from one fetal sample, one patient with atherosclerosis and one with restenosis. In the two disease-derived cultures, KED brought raised endothelin-1 back to the level of the normal cells and increased connexin-37 and sirtuin-1; it had no measurable effect on the normal cells. With one donor per condition, this is a pilot-scale result.
- Senescence markers in oral stem cells. In a collaboration with researchers at the University of Chieti–Pescara, Sinjari and colleagues (Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, 2020) kept human periodontal-ligament and gingival stem cells in culture to passage 25. Cultures exposed to KED showed 1.8- to 3.2-fold lower p16 and p21 mRNA than controls, a pattern the authors confirmed by immunofluorescence.
- Reprogrammed neurons. Sakhenberg and colleagues (Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 2025) converted a human fetal mesenchymal stem-cell line into neurons. KED lowered p21 and senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining but did not change the neuronal marker TUJ-1 or lamin B1. Pinealon, tested alongside it, had no significant effect on any of these markers.
- An Alzheimer’s-model mouse. Khavinson and colleagues (Pharmaceuticals, 2021) studied KED and EDR in 5xFAD-M mice, which carry human amyloid-pathway mutations. KED restored mature “mushroom” dendritic spines on hippocampal CA1 neurons, while its effect on long-term potentiation did not reach statistical significance.
Reported in studies
- More Ki67 staining in aged rat vascular cultures.
- Normalized endothelin-1 in endothelial cells from two surgical donors.
- Lower p16 and p21 in long-cultured human oral stem cells.
- Restored mushroom spines in an Alzheimer’s-model mouse.
Not established
- Any protective effect on blood vessels in a living animal or person.
- Whether KED binds DNA inside cells, as the docking models propose.
- How KED enters cells and what concentration it reaches there.
- Replication by laboratories outside the developers’ network.
Regulatory status: Vesugen is not an authorized drug in Canada. We sell it strictly as a laboratory reagent for in-vitro research.
Why researchers order Vesugen from Pure Peptides Canada
Add a 20 mg vial or a box of 10 above. Orders over $299 ship free across Canada.
See lab resultsVesugen FAQ
Where can I buy Vesugen in Canada?
Pure Peptides Canada stocks Vesugen as a lyophilized research reagent in 20 mg vials and ships it from inside Canada by tracked Xpresspost in 3–7 days ($25 CAD), or free in 4–12 days on orders over $299.
What has Vesugen been studied in?
Mostly cell cultures: rat vascular explants and aortic endothelial cells, human aortic endothelial cells from two bypass-surgery patients and one fetal sample, human oral stem cells and reprogrammed human neurons. It has also been tested in an Alzheimer’s-model mouse line. Nearly all of this work involves the developers or their collaborators.
How is Vesugen related to Prostamax and Testagen?
All three start with Lys-Glu-Asp. Prostamax adds proline (KEDP) and Testagen adds glycine (KEDG), and each is associated with a different tissue by its developers. Livagen (KEDA) and Pancragen (KEDW) are built on the same three residues.
Can Vesugen be used in people or animals?
No. This product is for in-vitro laboratory research only and is not a drug, supplement or food. We do not provide dosing or administration information.
References
- Khavinson VKh, Tarnovskaya SI, Linkova NS, Gutop EO, Elashkina EV. Epigenetic aspects of peptidergic regulation of vascular endothelial cell proliferation in aging. Adv Gerontol. 2015;5(4):219–224. doi:10.1134/S2079057015040116
- Kozlov KL, Bolotov II, Linkova NS, et al. Molecular aspects of vasoprotective peptide KED activity during atherosclerosis and restenosis [in Russian]. Adv Gerontol (Uspekhi Gerontol). 2016;29(4):646–650. Europe PMC 28539025
- Sinjari B, Diomede F, Khavinson V, et al. Short peptides protect oral stem cells from ageing. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2020;16:159–166. doi:10.1007/s12015-019-09921-3
- Sakhenberg E, Linkova N, Kraskovskaya N, et al. The influence of short peptides on cell senescence and neuronal differentiation. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025;47(9):739. doi:10.3390/cimb47090739
- Khavinson V, Ilina A, Kraskovskaya N, et al. Neuroprotective effects of tripeptides—epigenetic regulators in mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Pharmaceuticals. 2021;14(6):515. doi:10.3390/ph14060515 (correction: Pharmaceuticals 2025;18(1):111)
- Khavinson VKh, Lin’kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI. Short peptides regulate gene expression. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2016;162(2):288–292. doi:10.1007/s10517-016-3596-7
For laboratory research use only. Not a drug, supplement, food or cosmetic, not for human or veterinary use, and not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.