Cosmetic & Skin
AHK-Cu
Also published as Ala-His-Lys copper complex
A copper binding tripeptide closely related to GHK-Cu, differing by a single residue. It appears in cosmetic formulation work, most often around hair.
Where it came from
Developed as an analogue in the copper peptide family that followed the characterisation of GHK.
What the literature examines
- VEGF expression in dermal papilla cells
- Hair follicle growth in culture
- Collagen synthesis in fibroblast models
State of the evidence
The literature is substantially thinner than GHK-Cu and a meaningful part of it is formulator research rather than independent academic work.
What a buyer should know
Buyers routinely assume AHK inherits the GHK evidence base. It does not. If a customer is asking for copper peptide research material and cannot articulate why they want AHK specifically, they probably mean GHK-Cu.
Handling and stability
Blue copper complex, light sensitive, supplied lyophilised.
Sequence
Ala-His-Lys, complexed with Cu(II)
Read it yourself
We do not publish a curated citation list, because a hand picked list of papers is a sales tool. These links run a live query against the public databases, so you see everything, including the results that do not suit us.
Supplied for laboratory research use only. Nothing on this page is a dose, a protocol or a claim of effect in humans, and nothing here is medical advice. Read our research use policy.