KPV Peptide | 12mg | 3ml

KPV is a tripeptide — three amino acids, lysine-proline-valine — corresponding to residues 11–13 at the C-terminus of α-MSH (alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone). It is the smallest fragment of that hormone still studied for melanocortin-associated activity, and its size is the reason researchers reach for it: at 342.4 g/mol it is simple to synthesise, easy to characterise analytically, and short enough to serve as a model compound for how small peptides behave in solution. Ours is supplied pre-mixed as a solution in a sealed 3 ml vial, 12mg per vial, HPLC-verified with a batch Certificate of Analysis, synthesised in our UK facility.

Research use only. KPV is supplied strictly for in-vitro laboratory research. This page describes chemistry, format, quality and handling. It does not describe dosing, administration or use in humans or animals, and makes no therapeutic claims.

KPV at a glance

What KPV is, chemically

The name is the sequence. In single-letter amino-acid code lysine is K, proline is P and valine is V, so Lys-Pro-Val is written KPV — which is why the compound is searched as "KPV peptide" rather than by any systematic name. Three residues is about as short as a peptide gets while still being a peptide: it has one peptide bond fewer than a tetrapeptide, no secondary structure to speak of, no disulphide bridges and no unusual residues. Proline in the middle position puts a fixed kink in the backbone, which is the one conformational feature the molecule has.

That simplicity has analytical consequences worth knowing before you compare certificates. A 342 g/mol tripeptide elutes early on a reversed-phase column and gives a clean, unambiguous mass — there is very little for a synthesis to get wrong, and correspondingly little excuse for a certificate that cannot report an exact match.

KPV and α-MSH: fragment, not hormone

α-MSH is a 13-residue hormone. KPV is its last three residues, and nothing else. That distinction matters because the two are not interchangeable reagents and are not studied for the same thing: the full-length hormone is a broad melanocortin-receptor agonist, while the C-terminal tripeptide is investigated in signalling work where the full receptor-binding apparatus of the parent hormone is deliberately absent. Anyone buying KPV as a stand-in for α-MSH, or reading a supplier's copy that blurs the two, is comparing different molecules. The related — and much larger — cyclic α-MSH analogues in this catalogue are Melanotan 2 and PT-141, which are heptapeptides with a lactam bridge and a different research role entirely.

How KPV is studied

In biochemical and cellular systems KPV is investigated for its influence on melanocortin-linked signalling networks and on downstream intracellular processes relevant to immune and inflammatory regulation, with published work covering both receptor-associated and receptor-independent mechanisms. Because it is so short, it also appears as a model peptide in method development — stability in solution, degradation kinetics, and the analytical behaviour of very small sequences. Reported observations vary with concentration, exposure time, model type and study design; they are laboratory observations only, not established effects in humans or animals. The KPV guide covers the literature in more depth.

KPV on its own or in the KLOW blend

KPV is the component that distinguishes two of our multi-compound vials. KLOW is GHK-Cu (50mg), KPV (10mg), BPC-157 (10mg) and TB-500 (10mg) — 80mg in one pre-mixed vial. GLOW is the same three without KPV, at 70mg. In other words the KPV is the whole difference between the two blends, which is why the choice between them turns on whether a study touches melanocortin-linked signalling at all. The single vial on this page is the right choice when the question is about the tripeptide specifically, when a blend's fixed ratio does not suit the design, or when a control arm needs the compound alone.

Pre-mixed KPV vs lyophilised

Most UK suppliers ship KPV as a lyophilised powder to reconstitute with bacteriostatic water. Ours is supplied already in solution, so there is no reconstitution step and no bacteriostatic water to source, and the concentration shown in the key facts above holds for every vial in the batch. A solution has to stay cold: vials ship chilled in an insulated pouch, go into a 2–8 °C refrigerator on arrival, and should be used within the storage window on the label rather than kept as shelf stock.

Quality: HPLC purity and the Certificate of Analysis

Every KPV batch is verified by HPLC at 99%+ purity, and the figure recorded on the Certificate of Analysis is the value measured for that batch rather than a generic claim. A batch-specific COA is supplied with the order. KPV's certificate is one of the ones currently being added to the public COA library — the compounds listed there as pending are tested to the same standard, and support can send the current batch document on request before you order. Material is synthesised in our own UK facility rather than imported and relabelled.

Storage and handling

• Refrigerate at 2–8 °C on arrival; keep the vial sealed and protected from light.
• Do not freeze. Freeze–thaw cycling damages peptides already in solution.
• Draw from the vial with standard aseptic laboratory technique.
• Check the certificate for the recorded appearance and the storage window for that lot.

Buying KPV in the UK: what to check

1. Fragment or hormone. KPV is the α-MSH (11-13) tripeptide, not α-MSH; the certificate's mass — 342.4 g/mol — tells you which you have.
2. Mass per vial and, for a solution, the concentration. "KPV" alone says nothing about how much is in the vial.
3. A batch-specific Certificate of Analysis naming the batch and the analytical method, available before you order.
4. Format. Powder needs bacteriostatic water and a reconstitution step; a pre-mixed solution needs cold-chain delivery and a refrigerator.
5. Legal status. KPV is lawful to buy and possess in the UK for laboratory research. It is not a licensed medicine, and every vial is supplied and labelled for in-vitro research use only.