Pancragen Research GuideKEDW / KEDW-NH2 · C-terminus not settled · not insulin

Research-use-only framing. This page describes a short peptide bioregulator sold as a laboratory research material. It is not medical advice. Simple Research Peptides (SRP) materials are for laboratory research only and are not for human or veterinary use, consumption, administration, diagnosis, treatment, or therapeutic application.

One-sentence identity. Pancragen is a Khavinson-catalog synthetic tetrapeptide printed in opened papers as Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp (KEDW) and, on other opened pages, as the C-terminal amide Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2 (KEDW-NH2); it is positioned as a short “peptide bioregulator” associated with pancreatic-cell / gene-expression research; English-language independently replicated evidence is limited, ClinicalTrials.gov returned 0 studies for the trade name or KEDW, and it is not Livagen, not Ovagen, not Pinealon, not Vesugen, not Chonluten, and not insulin, glucagon, amylin, or cagrilintide.

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SRP product and index pages do not print a sequence, CAS, UNII, molecular formula, or a public COA. The sequences below are taken only from opened primary papers and from opened PubChem records that match those printed sequences. PubChem does not list the trade name Pancragen as a synonym on either CID opened here.

What this is chemically, from opened pages. Opened Khavinson-group papers print Pancragen as a four-residue peptide built from lysine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and tryptophan. They do not agree on the C-terminus. PMID 25946840 and PMID 22808515 print Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp. PMID 18642713 prints Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2. PMID 35887081 Table 2 prints Pancragen (KEDW-NH2). Several Europe PMC chemical lists use the MeSH string lysyl-glutamyl-aspartyl-tryptophanamide. Those are not the same terminal chemistry. This draft records both printings and does not collapse them.

PubChem has matching structures under sequence titles, not under the marketplace name:

• CID 68452877 = free acid H-Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-OH / KEDW / C26H36N6O9 / 576.6 Da.
• CID 68451868 = amide H-Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2 / C26H37N7O8 / 575.6 Da.

Neither CID prints “Pancragen.” Neither CID prints a CAS or UNII.

What this is not, chemically.

• Not Livagen (KEDA / Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala). Same 2022 table, different row (ICM −22.01, “Hepatoprotector”).
• Not Ovagen (EDL). Same table, labeled nephro-/hepatoprotector.
• Not Pinealon (EDR). Same table, labeled neuroprotector.
• Not Vesugen (KED). Same table, labeled vasoprotector. PMID 22808515 tests vesugen on fibroblasts in the same design that tests pancragen on pancreatic cells.
• Not Chonluten (EDG). Same table, labeled gastroprotector / stress protector.
• Not Bronchogen (AEDL on that table). PMID 22808515 and PMID 25761685 pair KEDW with AEDL as tissue-specific counterparts (pancreas vs bronchi).
• Not insulin, glucagon, amylin, pramlintide, or cagrilintide. Those are endogenous or analogue hormones / receptor agonists. Pancragen is a four-residue Khavinson cytogen-style peptide. Do not transfer GLP-1 / amylin-receptor trial evidence.
• Not the vendor CID 68452887 (a fluorinated benzimidazole, C25H18FN3O4).
• Not CAS 45234-02-4 (lysylglutamic acid, the KE dipeptide).
• Not shown on any opened page to be compositionally identical to an SRP 20 mg lyophilized research vial. SRP itself tells the buyer to “verify sequence, salt form, and assay.”

Not printed on SRP pages and therefore not claimed as SRP-verified: sequence, free-acid vs amide status, CAS, UNII, formula, CID, or purity numbers. The product page does not print a public COA.

Pankragen-forte. PMID 28976155 is an opened Russian-language abstract about an oral product spelled pankragen-forte in 12 older adults with impaired glucose tolerance. That abstract does not print Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp or KEDW. It is logged as a related trade-name variant, not as confirmed identity for an SRP vial and not as a diabetes-treatment claim.

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Pancragen (this page) is the tetrapeptide Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp / KEDW, sometimes printed as the amide, on the opened Khavinson / Goncharova / Korkushko pages. It is one name inside the Khavinson / cytomedin-style short-peptide bioregulator catalog. That catalog is a research-network taxonomy, not a receptor-class assignment.

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View Pancragen 20 mg Research Peptide Vial for current price, availability and product information.

SRP supplies this material for laboratory evaluation of pancreatic-tissue and metabolic research models. Review batch documentation to verify sequence, terminal form, salt form and assay before interpreting experimental results.

This guide explains the literature; it is not a certificate for a particular batch or evidence of a treatment benefit. For laboratory research only. Not for human or animal use.

Explore the SRP Research Library to compare other compound guides.

Pancragen is a synthetic tetrapeptide from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology catalog. Opened papers report four clusters of laboratory observations:

1. Tissue-specific explant / culture effects on pancreatic tissue (Zakutskii et al. 2006, PMID 17152728; Khavinson et al. 2012, PMID 22808515).
2. Differentiation-factor expression in aging pancreatic cell cultures — Pdx1, Ptf1a, Pax6, Pax4, Foxa2, Nkx2.2 and related markers (Khavinson et al. 2013, PMID 23486591; review-level restatement in PMID 31808038).
3. Promoter-methylation / DNA-binding language for the letters KEDW (Ashapkin et al. 2015, PMID 25761685; Khavinson et al. 2016, PMID 27909961; Khavinson et al. 2021, PMID 34834147 citing the 2015 *Am. J. Biomed. Sci.* KEDW–DNA paper).
4. Glucose / insulin / C-peptide readouts in streptozotocin rats (PMID 18642713), aged rhesus monkeys (PMID 25946840; PMID 28509500), and two small regional human reports (PMID 22448364; the separately spelled pankragen-forte abstract PMID 28976155).

Almost all indexed work originates from the Khavinson network and collaborators in St. Petersburg, Sochi (Research Institute of Medical Primatology), and Kiev (Institute of Gerontology). No opened Western independent replication of the differentiation-factor or primate glucose-tolerance findings was located. ClinicalTrials.gov has no Pancragen or KEDW study.

This is not a diabetes medicine, not an insulin secretagogue class, and not a substitute for approved metabolic drugs. Opened abstracts that use treatment-style language are recorded as author claims from those papers, not as SRP indications.

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Observed in opened Pancragen- or KEDW-named papers

• Tissue-specific differentiation-marker stimulation in aging cultures. Pancragen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp) “tissue-specifically stimulated” CXCL12 and Hoxa3 in human embryonic pancreatic-cell cultures; the effect was “more pronounced in aged cultures.” Bronchogen and vesugen acted on bronchial epithelium and fibroblasts, respectively, in the same design (Khavinson et al. 2012, PMID 22808515).
• Acinar and islet transcription-factor panel. “Tetrapeptide pancragen stimulates the expression of differentiation factors of acinar (Pdx1, Ptfla) and islet of Langerhans (Pdx1, Pax6, Pax4, Foxa2, NKx2.2) cells in ‘young’ and ‘aged’ cultures” (Khavinson et al. 2013, PMID 23486591). The opened abstract then uses treatment-style language (“anti-diabetic,” “treatment of diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis”). That language is the authors’ interpretation. It is not a registered trial and is not adopted here as a clinical claim.
• KEDW and promoter methylation in pancreatic cultures. KEDW “tissue-specifically” affected gene expression in pancreatic (not bronchial) cultures. Promoter methylation of PDX1, PAX6, and NGN3 changed with culture aging and with KEDW in a pattern that correlated with expression; PAX4 methylation did not change even though expression did; FOXA2 methylation changed without correlating with expression (Ashapkin et al. 2015, PMID 25761685). The opened abstract does not print the trade name Pancragen.
• In-silico DNA-site language. Docking models in Khavinson, Lin’kova, Tarnovskaya 2016 (PMID 27909961) place KEDW and AED on an acct sequence. The 2021 systematic review (PMID 34834147, PMC8619776) restates that KEDW increased expression of PDX1, NGN3, MNX1, PAX6, FOXA2, NKX2-2, NKX6.1, HOXA3, and PAX4 and cites the 2015 *American Journal of Biomedical Sciences* paper (DOI 10.5099/aj150300156) for DNA-binding / ACCT-promoter language. That 2015 journal article was not itself opened in this pass; claims beyond what PMID 34834147 printed are not used.
• In-silico LAT1 docking (not a transport assay). Pancragen (KEDW-NH2) ICM-score −23.47 on LAT1 (Khavinson et al. 2022, PMID 35887081, Table 2). Follow-up docking of KEDW-NH2 (trade name Pancragen not printed in the 2023 methods list): LAT1 (PDB 6IRT) −28.40; LAT2 (7B00) −21.78; PEPT1 (7PN1) −20.57; PEPT2 (7PMY) +6.90 (Khavinson et al. 2023, PMID 36979488, PMC10046148, Tables 1, 3, 5, 7). The same 2022 paper states KEDW (with KEDA) was “resistant to hydrolysis for 3–4 h in physiological saline, Ringer’s solution, HCl and tissue homogenates,” citing prior hydrolysis work. This is docking / review language, not a measured PEPT/LAT flux for Pancragen.
• Organotypic pancreas explants. Pancragen, grouped with cardiogen, bronchogen, and prostamax, “showed a stimulating effect in appropriate tissue cultures” at the printed explant concentration in young and old rats (Zakutskii et al. 2006, PMID 17152728). Sequence is not printed on that opened abstract.

Glucose-axis observations (preclinical / small regional human; not treatment claims)

• Streptozotocin Wistar rats: opened abstract of PMID 18642713 reports that oral pancragen (printed as Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2) changed blood glucose during treatment and that intramuscular pancragen changed mesenteric capillary endothelial adhesion without changing permeability. This is a rodent chemical-diabetes model.
• Aged female rhesus monkeys: opened abstract of PMID 25946840 prints Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp and reports faster glucose disappearance and normalized insulin / C-peptide peaks after a 10-day intramuscular course, with a partial effect remaining three weeks later. PMID 28509500 is a related old-monkey comparison with oral glimepiride (n=5 pancragen, n=4 glimepiride). Those are primate laboratory studies, not human trials.
• Elderly humans with type 2 diabetes (Korkushko et al. 2011, PMID 22448364): opened abstract reports 30 healthy older persons and 33 patients with type 2 diabetes; nocturnal melatonin described as reduced in the diabetes group; the pancragen arm is described as decreasing fasting and OGTT glucose, plasma insulin, and an insulin-resistance index, with no change in the no-pancragen subgroup. Route, duration, randomization, and blinding are not stated in the opened abstract. Not an NCT.
• Pankragen-forte (PMID 28976155): 12 older adults with impaired glucose tolerance; oral product; opened abstract describes OGTT glucose falling in “50 percent” of that group. Sequence not printed. Not an NCT. Not used as SRP-vial identity.

Not shown in a paper opened here

• A defined cell-surface receptor (IUPHAR: no ligand).
• Measured LAT1 / PEPT1 flux of Pancragen in a wet assay.
• Pharmacokinetics, oral bioavailability, or human safety package for a research vial.
• Equivalence of free-acid KEDW and KEDW-NH2 in the same experiment.
• Equivalence of an SRP lyophilized vial to the material used in any cited paper.
• Independent Western replication.

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Evidence quality overall: sparse / limited. One research network. Small n. Several Russian-language abstracts. No registered trial.

Opened and not used as Pancragen evidence: Europe PMC pancragen also returned pancreatic-cyst / IPMN / pancreatic-cancer papers (e.g. PMID 37749004, 41090355, 33207417, 32050465, 35229208, 28739154, 35854467, 36600097, 38472986, 31676330). Those are lexical collisions on “pancrea-”. Unused.

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• Not Livagen (KEDA), Ovagen (EDL), Pinealon (EDR), Vesugen (KED), Chonluten (EDG), Epitalon (AEDG), Vilon (KE), Bronchogen (AEDL), or Prostamax / Prostomax (KEDP).
• Not insulin, proinsulin, C-peptide, glucagon, GLP-1, GIP, amylin, pramlintide, or cagrilintide.
• Not a pancreatic tissue extract (the older cytomedin-style pancreas complex sometimes sold as Suprefort in other catalogs was not opened as a primary identity source and is not treated as the same molecule).
• This is a laboratory research material, not a product offered for human treatment. Historical database lookup failures do not establish regulatory status, clinical approval or safety.
• Not CID 68452887.
• Not CAS 45234-02-4 or the unverified vendor CAS 8057-49-6.
• Not a human diabetes, pancreatitis, or prediabetes treatment. This page does not provide dosing or reconstitution.

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• SRP listing is a 20 mg research vial for laboratory evaluation in pancreatic-tissue models, metabolic signaling, and peptide-bioregulator characterization.
• Confirm sequence and C-terminus (free acid KEDW vs KEDW-NH2) on the certificate of analysis. Opened literature uses both.
• Do not assume a trade name equals a PubChem CID. The name pancragen is not a PubChem title.
• Do not copy rodent, monkey, or regional-human exposure details as a laboratory or human protocol.
• Do not merge evidence from insulin, GLP-1, or amylin analogues.
• Independent replication, pharmacokinetics, and standardized human safety data are limited.

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The bibliography retains the distinct literature cited in this guide. Direct experiments, reviews, computational work and patents should be interpreted separately.

1. Zakutskii AN, Chalisova NI, Ryzhak GA, Aniskina AI, Filippov SV, Zeziulin PN. The tissue-specific effect of synthetic peptides-biologic regulators in organotypic tissues culture in young and old rats. Adv Gerontol. 2006;19:93–96. PMID 17152728.
2. Khavinson VKh, Gavrisheva NA, Malinin VV, Chefu SG, Trofimov EL. Effect of pancragen on blood glucose level, capillary permeability and adhesion in rats with experimental diabetes mellitus. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2007;144(4):559–562. PMID 18642713. DOI 10.1007/s10517-007-0377-3.
3. Korkushko OV, Khavinson VKh, Shatilo VB, Antonyk-Sheglova IA, Bondarenko EV. Prospects of using pancragen for correction of metabolic disorders in elderly people. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2011;151(4):454–456. PMID 22448364. DOI 10.1007/s10517-011-1354-4.
4. Khavinson VKh, Linkova NS, Polyakova VO, Kheifets OV, Tarnovskaya SI, Kvetnoy IM. Peptides tissue-specifically stimulate cell differentiation during their aging. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2012;153(1):148–151. PMID 22808515. DOI 10.1007/s10517-012-1664-1.
5. Korkushko OV, Chizhova VP, Shatilo VB, Khavinson VK. The tetrapeptide pankragen forte efficiency in elderly people with prediabetic state. Adv Gerontol. 2013;26(2):297–308. PMID 28976155. Pankragen-forte spelling; sequence not on opened abstract.
6. Khavinson VKh, Durnova AO, Polyakova VO, Tolibova GH, Linkova NS, Kvetnoy IM, Kvetnaia TV, Tarnovskaya SI. Effects of pancragen on the differentiation of pancreatic cells during their ageing. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2013;154(4):501–504. PMID 23486591. DOI 10.1007/s10517-013-1987-6.
7. Goncharova ND, Ivanova LG, Oganian TE, Vengerin AA, Khavinson VKh. Impact of tetrapeptide pancragen on endocrine function of the pancreas in old monkeys. Adv Gerontol. 2014;27(4):662–667. PMID 25946840.
8. Ashapkin VV, Linkova NS, Khavinson VKh, Vanyushin BF. Epigenetic mechanisms of peptidergic regulation of gene expression during aging of human cells. Biochemistry (Mosc). 2015;80(3):310–322. PMID 25761685. DOI 10.1134/s0006297915030062.
9. Goncharova ND, Ivanova LG, Oganyan TE, Vengerin AA, Khavinson VK. Correction of impaired glucose tolerance using tetrapeptide (Pancragen) in old female rhesus monkeys. Adv Gerontol. 2015;28(3):579–585. PMID 28509500.
10. Khavinson VK, Lin’kova NS, Tarnovskaya SI. Short peptides regulate gene expression. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2016;162(2):288–292. PMID 27909961. DOI 10.1007/s10517-016-3596-7.
11. Khavinson V, Linkova N, Diatlova A, Trofimova S. Peptide regulation of cell differentiation. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2020;16(1):118–125. PMID 31808038. DOI 10.1007/s12015-019-09938-8.
12. Khavinson VK, Popovich IG, Linkova NS, Mironova ES, Ilina AR. Peptide regulation of gene expression: a systematic review. Molecules. 2021;26(22):7053. PMID 34834147. PMC8619776. DOI 10.3390/molecules26227053.
13. Khavinson V, Linkova N, Kozhevnikova E, Dyatlova A, Petukhov M. Transport of biologically active ultrashort peptides using POT and LAT carriers. Int J Mol Sci. 2022;23(14):7733. PMID 35887081. PMC9323678. DOI 10.3390/ijms23147733. Table 2: Pancragen (KEDW-NH2), ICM −23.47.
14. Khavinson VK, Linkova NS, Rudskoy AI, Petukhov MG. Feasibility of transport of 26 biologically active ultrashort peptides via LAT and PEPT family transporters. Biomolecules. 2023;13(3):552. PMID 36979488. PMC10046148. DOI 10.3390/biom13030552.
15. Khavinson VKh, Gapparov MM, Sharanova NE, Vasilyev AV, Ryzhak GA. Study of biological activity of Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2 endogenous tetrapeptide. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2010;149(3):351–353. PMID 21246099. DOI 10.1007/s10517-010-0944-x. Trade name not on opened abstract.
16. Khavinson VKh, Sevost’ianova NN, Durnova AO, Lin’kova NS, Tarnovskaia SI, Dudkov AV, Kvetnaia TV. Tetrapeptide stimulates functional activity of the pancreatic cells in aging. Adv Gerontol. 2012;25(4):680–684. PMID 23734516. DOI 10.1134/s2079057013030053. Sequence H-Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp-NH2.
17. Tarnovskaya SI, Yakutseni PP, Khavinson VKh. Study of interactions between DNA and tetrapeptides using methods of molecular mechanics. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2014;156(5):689–693. PMID 24770759. DOI 10.1007/s10517-014-2426-z.

Indirect citation, interpreted through the cited review: Khavinson VK, Tendler SM, Kasyanenko NA, et al. Tetrapeptide KEDW interacts with DNA and regulates gene expression. Am J Biomed Sci. 2015;7:156–169. DOI 10.5099/aj150300156 (cited as ref. 42 in PMID 34834147). No PMID assigned on the citing page. Not used beyond what PMID 34834147 printed.

Context sources, not standalone evidence of Pancragen efficacy: PMID 34834147 (systematic review abstract does not name Pancragen/KEDW); PMID 32019204 (Epitalon neurogenesis); PMID 37435573 (WWASKS COL5 peptide); PMID 39871657 (2025 stem-cell-peptide review).

Identity and patent cross-checks: US7491703B2; PubChem records 68452877, 68451868 and 57562370. These are comparison records, not confirmation of SRP batch identity. Check structure, stereochemistry and terminal form before using an identifier.

These are intellectual-property documents, not peer-reviewed trials.

PubChem CID 57562370 xrefs include US07491703-20090217-C00001_1 and US20070142298A1-20070621-C00001_1, which ties that DL-amide CID to this patent family. That is a patent-structure deposit, not proof of an all-L SRP vial.

Patent Example 8 (36 patients, IM 10 µg or oral 100 µg tablet language) is patent-internal clinical narrative. No NCT. No PubMed RCT. Not used as registered-trial evidence and not used as a disease-treatment claim.

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Human reports and registered clinical trials are distinct. The 2011 Pancragen report describes older adults and metabolic measurements. Its abstract does not establish randomization, blinding or a long-term safety assessment. PMID 22448364.

The earlier editorial review recorded no matches for its Pancragen and KEDW searches of ClinicalTrials.gov on August 16, 2026. This is a dated search record, not proof that no human research exists or that no trial could be registered under another name. A current registry search is needed before relying on registration status.

Cell studies using human tissue and examples in a patent are not, by themselves, clinical trials in people. This guide does not present a treatment recommendation.

The SRP product is offered for laboratory research only, not for human or animal use. A database identifier, a patent or a reported experimental effect does not establish clinical approval or product safety.

Older database searches and unsuccessful lookups are not a complete regulatory assessment. This guide makes no claim that Pancragen or the SRP research vial is an approved treatment. Experimental observations do not establish a safe human dose or long-term safety.

Keep the experimental model, tested material, study size and measured outcome in view. Cell-culture results, animal studies, computational predictions and human observations answer different questions. A result for one peptide cannot simply be applied to another.

The human abstract cited here provides limited information about study methods and safety. Independent replication, complete protocols and careful identity verification are important before interpreting broad claims. PMID 22448364.

For any research vial, verify sequence, terminal form, stereochemistry, salt form and assay against batch documentation. Neither the product name nor a literature citation completes that check.