Research
KPV
A tripeptide corresponding to the last three amino acids of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone — the shortest fragment that keeps the parent hormone's anti-inflammatory activity.
Available in the catalogue
Supplied as research material. Sizes and pricing are on the product page. Availability is not a statement about what a compound does.
What is being investigated
Directions the published work points at, and how far each has actually got. These are open questions, not established effects: most of what looks promising in cells does not replicate in animals, and most of what works in animals does not work in people. Nothing here is a claim about what this compound does for anyone.
- Intestinal inflammation
Where most of the work is. Mouse colitis models ask whether the tripeptide reduces inflammatory signalling in the gut wall, with uptake through the PepT1 transporter as the proposed route in.
Animal studies
- Skin inflammation
Studied in animal models of contact dermatitis and related conditions, on the same anti-inflammatory mechanism rather than on a separate one.
Animal studies
- Anti-inflammatory activity without pigmentation
The reason the fragment exists rather than the parent hormone. The anti-inflammatory action of α-MSH survives in these three residues and the melanocortin-receptor pigmentation activity does not, which is what makes it usable as a tool.
Cell and tissue studies
Published research
Every reference below was checked against the published record before being listed, with the model each study used.
- Kannengiesser et al. (2008)Inflammatory Bowel Diseases · 14(3):324–31
Reported anti-inflammatory activity of the melanocortin-derived tripeptide across mouse colitis models.
murine models of inflammatory bowel disease Source
Further reading
Longer articles on handling, analysis and what the published work reports.
- KPV (alpha-MSH 11-13): what the research says
The three-residue tail of α-MSH keeps the anti-inflammatory activity and drops the pigmentation. What the murine colitis work reported, and how thin it is.
- How to store research peptides
Lyophilised peptides at -20°C, reconstituted at 2–8°C, ambient in transit. Why the dry cake tolerates shipping, and what actually degrades a vial.
- Peptide shelf life and stability
How long lyophilised and reconstituted peptides keep, and the four things that shorten it: temperature, moisture, light and oxidation. Storage figures included.
- How to reconstitute lyophilised peptides
How to reconstitute a lyophilised peptide with bacteriostatic water without damaging it: why you run the liquid down the vial wall and never shake it.