AHK-Cu
Alanine-Histidine-Lysine Copper Peptide
aka Copper tripeptide AHK · Ala-His-Lys-Cu
A synthetic copper tripeptide analogue of GHK-Cu, researched for collagen synthesis and skin regeneration.
Sequence
AHK
L-Ala-L-His-L-Lys
Mechanism of action
AHK-Cu is a copper tripeptide that binds to copper ions, facilitating their transport into cells. This peptide enhances the activity of enzymes involved in collagen synthesis and tissue repair. It also modulates the expression of genes related to skin regeneration and anti-inflammatory responses. AHK-Cu is more stable than its parent compound, GHK-Cu, allowing for prolonged activity in biological systems.
What the evidence actually shows
There are no human clinical trials specifically evaluating AHK-Cu. Most evidence comes from in vitro studies and animal models demonstrating its effects on skin and hair. The lack of human data limits the ability to fully understand its efficacy and safety profile.
Regulatory status
AHK-Cu is not approved by the MHRA for medical use and is considered a research compound.
Source ↗Dosing — what backs each figure
AHK-Cu has no human dosing of any kind. The single substantive study exposed cultured human dermal papilla cells and ex-vivo hair follicles to 1e-12 to 1e-9 M peptide in the culture dish — a concentration, not a dose. Nothing supports administering it by injection, and no clinical trial has been run.
1e-12 M to 1e-9 M in culture medium; stimulated elongation of human hair follicles ex vivo and proliferation of dermal papilla cells in vitro
human tissue ex vivo / human dermal papilla cells in vitro (not a live-organism dose) · added to culture medium · PMID 17703734
Animal doses do not convert to human doses by body weight alone. Route matters too — a compound dosed intraperitoneally in mice tells you little about subcutaneous use.
- Dose
- 1-3 mg/day (topical); 100-500 mcg/day (SubQ)
- Frequency
- Daily
- Cycle
- 8-12 weeks· unsourced
Why this isn't evidence
AHK-Cu is a topical cosmetic ingredient whose only published data are picomolar-to-nanomolar concentrations in cell and ex-vivo follicle culture; there is no in-vivo dose in ANY species, so both the mg/day topical figure and the subcutaneous mcg/day figure are unsourced, and quoting an injectable dose for a cosmetic ingredient is a category error.
This figure is shown because it is what circulates and what people search for — not because it is supported. Cycle lengths in particular tend to be convention copied between compounds rather than anything derived from a compound's own pharmacokinetics.
Handling and storage
Safety
- ·Mild skin irritation
- ·Allergic reactions
- ·Known hypersensitivity to copper peptides
- ·Chelating agents may reduce effectiveness by binding copper ions
Reported combinations
- ·Vitamin C, which supports collagen synthesis
- ·Chelating agents
Combination claims in this dataset are largely unsourced and should be treated as folk knowledge until a citation appears beside them.
References (2)
- Pyo HK, et al. (2007) The effect of tripeptide-copper complex on human hair growth in vitro. ↗Archives of Pharmacal ResearchPMID 17703734DOI
AHK-Cu was evaluated on ex vivo human hair follicles and cultured dermal papilla cells; the tripeptide-copper complex stimulated dermal fibroblast proliferation and raised VEGF production while decreasing TGF-beta1 secretion.
- Fan C, et al. (2026) Overview of Short Peptides for Hair Loss. ↗BiomedicinesPMID 42072405DOI
Review placing AHK-Cu and related short peptides in the context of approved hair-loss therapies (minoxidil, finasteride, dutasteride) and noting the absence of regulatory approval for peptide options.
Data provenance
Chemistry and citations on this page were checked against primary sources on 2026-08-14. Values that could not be verified were left blank rather than filled with a plausible guess.
Could not verify
storage.lyophilized, storage.reconstituted, storage.lightSensitive, reconstitution.solvent, regulatory.wada