Compound reference
Cartalax
Also known as AED, Ala-Glu-Asp, T-31
Cartalax (AED, Ala-Glu-Asp) is a Khavinson "bioregulator" tripeptide marketed for cartilage and connective tissue. Its evidence is minimal — single-group, in-vitro cell-culture work plus an unproven DNA-binding hypothesis — with no in-vivo efficacy data and no human trials.
- Formula
- C₁₂H₁₉N₃O₈
- Molar mass
- ≈333.3 g/mol
- Sequence
- Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), tripeptide
Research peptide; not an approved drug. Evidence is preclinical and single-group.
Mode of action
Cartalax is the tripeptide alanyl-glutamyl-aspartic acid (Ala-Glu-Asp, AED), one of the "bioregulator" peptides from Vladimir Khavinson's St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology — the same program that produced Epitalon and Pinealon. Like the others, it was designed by analyzing the amino-acid composition of a tissue extract (here Sigumir, a cartilage- and bone-derived peptide preparation) and then synthesizing a short defined sequence intended to reproduce that tissue's regulatory signal.
The proposed mechanism is the group's general hypothesis: that the peptide penetrates the cell, enters the nucleus, and binds DNA or histones in a sequence-specific way to switch particular genes on or off — here, genes governing cartilage, chondrocyte, and fibroblast function. The support for this is molecular-docking models and the group's own binding experiments. It is important to be clear that this DNA-binding mechanism is a hypothesis advanced largely by one research network and has not been independently established; it should not be read as settled biology.
Main intended effect
Support of cartilage and connective tissue, framed as a "geroprotective" normalization of cartilage and fibroblast function with age.
Areas of interest
Cartalax is marketed primarily as a cartilage and joint "bioregulator," with secondary interest in skin-fibroblast aging and thymocyte/immune aging. In practice it is sold as a research peptide, frequently as a component of multi-peptide blends (for example alongside BPC-157 and TB-500).
Evidence for intended effects
This is the part that matters most, and it is sparse. The credible evidence for Cartalax is essentially a small set of in-vitro, cell-culture studies from the originating institute, consolidated in the group's 2021 systematic review. Even within that literature the support is modest: in the main thymocyte study, Cartalax produced only a partial, non-uniform effect on aged-thymocyte differentiation — and a different peptide in the same experiment outperformed it. The claims about cartilage and skin-fibroblast gene expression likewise rest on cell-culture observations and the group's gene-regulation model.
What is missing is almost everything that would make a connective-tissue claim credible: there are no independent replications outside the originating network, no in-vivo mammalian studies demonstrating cartilage benefit that can be cited here, and no human or clinical trials of any kind. The "cartilage regeneration" framing in product marketing derives from the peptide's origin (a cartilage extract) and the gene-expression hypothesis — not from any demonstrated cartilage outcome.
| Strand | What exists | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Cell-culture (thymocyte, fibroblast) | Single-group in-vitro studies; partial/non-uniform effects | Weak preclinical |
| Mechanism | Proposed DNA/histone binding (docking + group's binding data) | Hypothesis (not independently established) |
| In-vivo / cartilage outcomes | None citable | Absent |
| Human | None | No trials |
Studied amounts (literature dosing context)
The in-vitro studies used Cartalax at roughly 200 ng/mL in cell culture. No in-vivo or human dose has been established. It is sold as a lyophilized powder, often within multi-peptide blends. These are cell-culture figures only; this page does not provide dosing guidance.
Safety and regulatory status
There is no meaningful human safety data for Cartalax, because there are no clinical studies — the Khavinson literature's general claim that these peptides are side-effect-free comes from the same single network and uncontrolled settings. Cartalax is not an approved drug in any jurisdiction; it is sold as a research compound and supplement-style "bioregulator," frequently in unregulated blends, and no authoritative CAS registry number is firmly assigned to it, which is itself a marker of how little formal characterization exists. As with other gray-market peptides, products labeled "Cartalax" are of unverified identity and purity.
Sources
Peptidergic Regulation of Thymocyte Differentiation, Proliferation, and Apoptosis during Aging of the Thymus
In vitro study (Lin'kova, Polyakova and colleagues, Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine 2011) from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology testing several short peptides — including Cartalax (T-31, the tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp) — on cultured thymocytes from old animals at 200 ng/mL. Cartalax stimulated differentiation of thymocytes toward mature CD4+ and CD8+ cells, but its effect was not uniform across the measured parameters (for example, it did not consistently affect apoptosis); in this comparison a related peptide, AB-9, showed the more complete ("complex") geroprotective effect. The work is a single-group cell-culture study and does not establish in-vivo or clinical activity for Cartalax.
Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review
Systematic review (Khavinson, Popovich, Linkova, Mironova, and Ilina, Molecules 2021) from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology summarizing the group's body of work on short di-, tri-, and tetrapeptide "bioregulators," including AED (Cartalax) — which it associates with regulation of cartilage and skin-fibroblast function and neuronal-cell differentiation — and AEDG (Epitalon). The review advances the group's central hypothesis that such peptides penetrate cells, enter the nucleus, and bind DNA or histones to regulate gene expression. It is the most consolidated statement of the bioregulator program, but the underlying primary evidence is largely in vitro and originates from a single research network, and the proposed DNA-binding mechanism is not independently established.
Evaluation of Research Grade Peptides Marketed Directly to Consumers Reveals Extensive Variability in Purity and Measured Abundance
Analysis (Mendias and Awan, preprint, 2026) of 6,441 gray-market peptide samples across fourteen compounds — including ipamorelin, BPC-157, CJC-1295, GHK-Cu, PT-141, retatrutide, semaglutide, sermorelin, TB-500, tesamorelin, and tirzepatide. Applying two quality-acceptance frameworks, between 41.6% and 71.1% of samples failed to meet basic quality criteria, and about 15% showed measurable endotoxin contamination. The study quantifies how often directly-marketed "research grade" peptides miss purity and content benchmarks — a central safety concern for any non-pharmaceutical source.