Laboratoire de Biochimie, CNRS URA 84, Faculté de Médecine, Reims, France.
Source
FEBS Lett, 238: 2, 1988 Oct 10, 343-6
Abstract
Glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine (GHK) is a tripeptide with affinity for copper(II) ions and
was isolated from human plasma. This peptide appears to play a physiological role in wound
healing. We report the stimulating effect of GHK-Cu on collagen synthesis by fibroblasts.
The stimulation began between 10(-12) and 10(-11) M, maximized at 10(-9) M, and was
independent of any change in cell number. The presence of a GHK triplet in the alpha 2(I)
chain of type I collagen suggests that the tripeptide might be liberated by proteases at
the site of a wound and exert in situ healing effects.