Cortagen

Cortagen is a synthetic tetrapeptide bioregulator with the sequence Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro (AEDP), obtained by directed synthesis based on the amino-acid composition of the brain-cortex peptide preparation Cortexin. It belongs to the Khavinson class of short peptide bioregulators developed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, a family of tri- and tetrapeptides studied for tissue-associated activity in laboratory models. Cortagen is the cerebral-cortex-associated member of that family and is studied in preclinical research on peptide bioregulation, transcriptional profiling, and nervous-tissue models, alongside related short peptides such as Epitalon and Vilon. Most of the published Cortagen literature comes from Russian-language journals including Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine and Advances in Gerontology. This material is supplied for research use only and is not for human consumption.

Cortagen has no established receptor target; in published preclinical work it is investigated as a gene-regulatory signal rather than as a ligand for a defined receptor. The prevailing hypothesis in the Khavinson bioregulator literature is that short, charged peptides of this class interact with nucleic acids and chromatin to modulate transcription in a tissue-associated manner, and microarray work in mice has reported altered expression of a defined set of transcripts following Cortagen administration. Structurally, the two acidic residues (Glu, Asp) give the peptide a strongly anionic centre, while the C-terminal proline constrains backbone rotation; both features are examined in structure-activity studies of this peptide class. Downstream endpoints reported in animal research models include markers of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity in brain tissue and functional measures of peripheral nerve regeneration. These mechanisms remain hypotheses under investigation in laboratory research models.

Gene Expression Profiling in a Mouse Model

Anisimov, Khavinson, and Anisimov (2004) administered Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) to female CBA mice for five consecutive days and profiled 15,247 cardiac transcripts by cDNA microarray. They reported 234 clones (1.53% of the total) with significant expression changes, matching 110 known genes, and compared the resulting profile against those of the related peptides Vilon and Epitalon, identifying both shared and Cortagen-specific effects [1].

Chronic Cerebral Ischemia Research Models

Zarubina and Shabanov (2011) compared cortagen with the polypeptide preparation cortexin in rats subjected to chronic brain ischemia. In this animal research model both preparations were reported to accelerate recovery of disturbed individual behaviour and to limit excessive activation of lipid peroxidation alongside a fall in antioxidant activity in brain tissue [2].

Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Studies

Turchaninova and colleagues (2000) examined tetrapeptide cortagen in a rat sciatic-nerve transection-and-suture model, administering 10 µg/kg intramuscularly for ten days. They reported increases of 27% in growth rate and 40% in conduction velocity in the regenerating nerve fibres relative to control [3].