Recovery & repair

GHK-Cu

A copper-binding tripeptide complex that occurs naturally in human plasma.

About

GHK-Cu is the copper(II) complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, a sequence that occurs naturally in human plasma and whose concentration declines with age. It is among the most extensively studied peptides in dermatological literature and appears in both research and cosmetic formulation contexts. Note that GHK and GHK-Cu are distinct entities: the copper complex is the form referenced here, and some suppliers conflate the two.

Mechanism

The tripeptide has high affinity for copper(II) ions, and much of the described activity is attributed to the complex rather than the peptide alone. Published work associates GHK-Cu with modulation of genes involved in collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis, and with the activity of metalloproteinases that remodel extracellular matrix. Copper itself is a required cofactor for lysyl oxidase, an enzyme involved in collagen cross-linking, which offers one route by which the complex could influence matrix composition. These are associations reported in the literature, not established clinical effects.

What research has examined

Research has examined GHK-Cu in dermal fibroblast culture, in wound-healing models and in gene-expression profiling studies.