The research library
Every article ExoLabz has published, 43 in total, grouped by subject. These are reference notes on identity, analysis, handling and Canadian regulatory status — written for people evaluating material for laboratory work, not for anyone looking for usage guidance.
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Peptide Science
Background reading on peptide classes, nomenclature and receptor pharmacology as described in the published literature.
Open Peptide ScienceAOD-9604 and the hGH 176-191 Fragment: What a Fragment Keeps
AOD-9604 is a useful illustration of a general principle in peptide research: a fragment of a protein is a different molecule from the protein…
BPC-157: What the Published Literature Actually Shows
BPC-157 is among the most widely discussed research peptides and among the most frequently misread.
CJC-1295 With and Without DAC: What the Modification Changes
CJC-1295 is sold and studied in two forms that are frequently conflated. The difference is a single chemical addition…
Cyclic and Linear Peptides: What Cyclisation Changes
Cyclisation is one of the most consequential modifications available to a peptide chemist.
DSIP: What the Name Describes and Where the Literature Stands
DSIP is a case where the name of a compound has outlasted the confidence of the finding that produced it. Using it well as a research material means understanding that history.
Epitalon: A Synthetic Tetrapeptide and the State of Its Evidence
Epitalon — also transliterated epithalon or epithalone — is a synthetic tetrapeptide with the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly.
GHK-Cu: Why the Copper Complex Is the Point
GHK-Cu is frequently described as a tripeptide, which understates what is actually being studied.
GHRH Analogs and Growth Hormone Secretagogues: Two Mechanisms Compared
Compounds grouped together as "growth hormone peptides" act through two different receptors.
Incretin Receptor Pharmacology: GLP-1, GIP and Glucagon Receptors
GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors are class B1 G-protein-coupled receptors. They share architecture, they share a primary signalling route, and they are the targets behind mono-…
Ipamorelin and GHSR-1a: Selectivity in a Secretagogue
Ipamorelin is usually introduced as "a selective secretagogue", which is accurate but uninformative unless you know what it is selective against.
Ki, IC50 and EC50: What Binding and Potency Figures Actually Measure
Three numbers appear throughout the peptide literature and are routinely treated as interchangeable. They measure different things under different conditions.
Kisspeptin-10 and the KISS1R Signalling Pathway
Kisspeptin-10 is the shortest fragment of the KISS1 gene product that retains full receptor activity, which makes it a common tool compound in work on the KISS1R pathway.
KLOW Peptide Blend: What Is In It and What Each Component Is Studied For
KLOW is a supplied combination of four separate research peptides rather than a single molecule.
Melanocortin Receptor Subtypes: Why MC1R and MC4R Selectivity Matters
The melanocortin system is a useful case study in receptor selectivity, because a single endogenous ligand family acts across five receptor subtypes with different tissue…
Mitochondrial Peptides: What MOTS-c and SS-31 Research Actually Measures
MOTS-c and SS-31 are both described as mitochondrial peptides, which obscures the fact that they do entirely different things.
NAD and Cellular Energy: What a Coenzyme Is and Is Not
NAD is stocked alongside research peptides but it is not a peptide, and treating it as one leads to avoidable errors in handling and in experimental design.
Peptide Half-Life: What Sets It and How Analogs Extend It
Most native peptides disappear from circulation in minutes. Nearly every engineered analog in a research catalogue exists because someone set out to change that…
Peptide Nomenclature: Sequences, Analogs, Fragments and Salts
Research peptide names look arbitrary until you know the conventions. Almost every element of a name — brackets, number ranges, suffixes…
Selank and Semax: Two Peptides Derived From Endogenous Sequences
Selank and Semax are frequently grouped together because they share a development lineage and a common design strategy, not because they act on the same target.
SS-31 and Cardiolipin: How a Mitochondria-Targeted Tetrapeptide Works
SS-31, also known as elamipretide, is unusual among research peptides because its mechanism is defined by where it goes rather than by a receptor it binds.
Tesamorelin: A Stabilised GHRH Analog
Tesamorelin belongs to the same family as CJC-1295 and sermorelin — all are engineered forms of growth hormone-releasing hormone — but it takes a different approach…
Thymosin β4 and TB-500: Why the Fragment Is Not the Protein
TB-500 and thymosin β4 are routinely used as if they were interchangeable names for one substance.
Analytical Testing & Quality
How research peptide identity and purity are verified, and how to read the supporting analytical documentation.
Open Analytical Testing & QualityEndotoxin, Sterility and the Limits of “Research Grade”
"Research grade" is a commercial description, not a defined standard. Knowing what it does not include is more useful than knowing what it does.
How to Read a Certificate of Analysis for Research Peptides
A Certificate of Analysis (COA) is the document that separates a characterised research compound from an unknown powder. It is also the document most buyers skim without reading.
HPLC and Mass Spectrometry: How Peptide Purity and Identity Are Verified
Two analytical questions sit behind every research peptide: is this the right molecule, and how much of the vial is that molecule rather than something else?
Net Peptide Content: Why a 10mg Vial Is Not 10mg of Peptide
A vial labelled 10 mg does not contain 10 mg of peptide. This is not a supplier shortcut — it follows from how peptides are purified and dried — but it is routinely missed…
Reading an HPLC Chromatogram: Shoulders, Baselines and Deletions
A purity percentage is a summary. The chromatogram it came from carries information the number discards, and reading it is a skill worth having if you buy peptides regularly.
TFA and Acetate Counter-Ions: Why the Salt Form Changes Your Numbers
A synthetic peptide is almost never supplied as a free base. It arrives as a salt, and which salt it is affects both your concentration calculations and, in some assay systems…
Third-Party vs In-House Testing: Reading Analytical Claims
"Third-party tested" appears on most peptide supplier sites. It is a meaningful claim only if you know who tested what, and when.
Water Content in Lyophilised Peptides and Why It Is Measured
Freeze-drying removes most of the water from a peptide preparation. It does not remove all of it…
Weighing Lyophilised Peptides: Hygroscopicity and Static
Weighing a lyophilised peptide accurately is harder than it looks, and the errors are systematic rather than random — they push in one direction and quietly bias every…
Where Peptide Impurities Come From: Deletion, Truncation, Oxidation and Aggregation
A purity figure says how much of a sample is the target peptide. It says nothing about what the rest is, and the rest has identifiable origins.
Why Two Certificates of Analysis Can Disagree on Purity
Two laboratories can analyse the same peptide and report different purity figures without either being wrong.
Handling & Storage
Reconstitution, temperature and stability guidance for lyophilised research peptides in a laboratory setting.
Open Handling & StorageAliquoting Reconstituted Peptides and Limiting Repeat Vial Entry
Once a peptide is in solution, the clock starts. The practical question is how to draw from that solution over the working life of the experiment without degrading what remains.
Choosing a Reconstitution Solvent for Research Peptides
Most reconstitution problems are solubility problems, and most solubility problems are predictable from the sequence.
Keeping a Peptide Inventory: Labels, Records and Traceability
Most laboratories keep good records of experiments and poor records of materials. When a result looks wrong…
Light, Oxygen and Temperature: How Peptides Degrade
Storage advice is easier to follow when you know what it is protecting against. Peptide degradation is not one process but several…
Storage and Stability of Lyophilised Research Peptides
Peptides are supplied lyophilised because dry powder is far more stable than peptide in solution.
Compliance & Sourcing
Canadian regulatory status of research chemicals and how to evaluate a research peptide supplier.
Open Compliance & SourcingChoosing a Research Peptide Supplier in Canada: What to Verify
Supplier claims in this market are largely unverifiable from the outside, which makes a small number of concrete checks worth more than any amount of marketing copy.
Comparing Research Peptide Prices: What Cost per Milligram Hides
Two vials of the same nominal mass can hold different amounts of peptide. Price per vial is not price per milligram, and the gap is often large.
Importing Research Chemicals into Canada vs Sourcing Domestically
The choice between an international and a domestic supplier is usually framed as a price comparison.
Receiving a Research Peptide Shipment: What to Check on Arrival
The first few minutes after a shipment arrives are the point at which most correctable problems can still be caught. A short receiving routine is worth formalising.
The Regulatory Status of Research Peptides in Canada
"Research use only" is not a marketing formula. It describes a specific regulatory position…
