GHK-Cu is one of the smallest peptides in the lab. It's just three amino acids — glycine, histidine, lysine — paired with a single copper atom. But the research behind it is anything but small.
The body already makes it
GHK shows up naturally in human plasma. The catch is that levels drop as we get older. By age 60, the amount in your blood is roughly a third of what it was at age 20. That decline is part of why researchers got curious in the first place.
What labs have looked at
Most studies focus on skin and wounds. Researchers have observed GHK-Cu boosting collagen production in skin cell models, helping wound sites build new blood vessels, and shifting the activity of a surprisingly large set of genes — over 4,000 in one widely-cited gene-expression study by Pickart and colleagues.
Why it's a favorite study tool
GHK-Cu gives researchers a clean way to study "copper-driven" cellular signaling. Copper is essential for several enzymes involved in tissue building, and this little peptide carries it directly to where the body uses it.
It's also studied for its possible anti-inflammatory effects and how it influences skin remodeling enzymes called metalloproteinases — the cellular tools that break down old tissue to make room for new tissue.
Important: GHK-Cu products are for laboratory and research use only. They are not intended for human application or consumption.