p21
CNTF PEPTIDE MIMETIC · ADAMANTYLATED TETRAPEPTIDE · NEUROGENIC · PRECLINICAL ONLY
also: P021 · P-021 · P 021
P021 is a synthetic tetrapeptide, Ac-Asp-Gly-Gly-Leu-, capped at the C-terminus with the unnatural, rigid, highly lipophilic amino acid 3-aminoadamantane-1-carboxylic acid, designed to resist exopeptidases and cross the blood-brain barrier. It was designed at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities by Khalid Iqbal, Inge Grundke-Iqbal and Herbert Mösler as a small-molecule mimetic of ciliary neurotrophic factor, and in rodents it increases dentate-gyrus neurogenesis and BDNF expression and lowers tau hyperphosphorylation. It has never been administered to a human being, has no registered clinical trial, and has no marketing authorisation anywhere.
// our evidence grade — unedited
No human being has ever been given P021: a ClinicalTrials.gov search returns no study of the compound under any name, and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's own 2025 assessment states flatly that safety in humans has not been assessed. Essentially every in vivo paper is co-authored by the originating laboratory, and the one attempt in a disease model chosen by an outside group (Cdkl5 knockout mice, 2024) failed to restore memory, social behaviour or motor function and failed to raise BDNF at all.
We grade this compound and we sell it. The grade is set against our published criteria before any stocking decision and is not adjusted because it is in the catalogue.
read the full evidence →// specification
| full name | P021 — N-acetyl-L-aspartyl-glycyl-glycyl-L-leucyl-N-[3-(aminocarbonyl)adamantan-1-yl]amide, an adamantylated tetrapeptide derived from ciliary neurotrophic factor residues 148-151 |
| cas | 1246751-68-7 |
| formula | C27H42N6O8 |
| molar mass | 578.66 g/mol |
| purity | ≥ 98% HPLC |
| form | lyophilised powder, sealed vial |
| storage | Lyophilised powder is stored desiccated at -20 °C and protected from light. Once reconstituted, laboratory practice is refrigeration at 2-8 °C for short-term use, or aliquoting and freezing to avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Handling information only; this material has no approved human use. |
| solubility | Short hydrophilic peptide, readily soluble in sterile or bacteriostatic water and in dilute aqueous buffer. Lot-specific solubility is stated on the certificate of analysis. |
| sequence | Ac-Asp-Gly-Gly-Leu-NH-[3-carbamoyladamantan-1-yl] (written in the originating patent as Ac-DGGL-AG-NH2, SEQ ID NO:18, where the C-terminal residue is the unnatural amino acid 3-aminoadamantane-1-carboxylic acid in its amide form). The parent peptide is Peptide 6, CNTF 146-156, VGDGGLFEKKL. |
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crypto payment · research use only · not for human consumption
// others in Cognitive