KLOW: Research Reference

KLOW is a fixed blend of four research peptides in one lyophilised vial: GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV. Our 80 mg vial holds 50 mg GHK-Cu and 10 mg each of BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV. Because GHK-Cu carries a bound copper ion, the powder and the mixed solution are blue, and that copper shapes how the whole blend is stored.

This reference collects what a laboratory needs to know about KLOW as a material: how its four components behave together in one vial, what the blend dissolves in, how it is handled at the bench and what to do when an order arrives. Each section below has its own page. The chemistry of each component on its own is covered in the existing references for GHK-Cu, BPC-157 and TB-500; this page is about what changes when they share a solution.

Molecular reference

Name	KLOW Blend (four-peptide blend)
GHK-Cu, 50 mg	Gly-His-Lys copper(II) complex; C14H23CuN6O4, 402.9 g/mol (PubChem CID 71587328)
BPC-157, 10 mg	GEPPPGKPADDAGLV, 15 residues; C62H98N16O22, 1419.5 g/mol
TB-500, 10 mg	Ac-LKKTETQ, 7 residues; C38H68N10O14, 889.0 g/mol (PubChem CID 62707662)
KPV, 10 mg	Lys-Pro-Val, 3 residues; C16H30N4O4, 342.4 g/mol (PubChem CID 125672)
Total per vial	80 mg combined peptide

Component masses are from our product listing. Formulas and weights for GHK-Cu, TB-500 and KPV are from the PubChem records named; BPC-157’s are from our BPC-157 reference. A blend has no single formula, CAS number or molecular weight.

Three features of that composition explain most of its behaviour. GHK-Cu is five eighths of the vial by mass, so the blend behaves first like a copper peptide solution: blue, light-sensitive in its copper centre and sensitive to anything that pulls the copper away. The copper’s fourth binding position is labile and open to other ligands such as glycine or histidine (Hureau et al., Chemistry, 2011), and two of the partner peptides, BPC-157 and KPV, have free N-terminal amines. And transition metal ions are a known catalyst of peptide oxidation (Li et al., Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 1995), which is why we look at what in the other three components copper could act on. The short answer is very little, which the KLOW stability page works through residue by residue.

What it is studied for

KLOW is a convenience blend, and no published study has tested the four peptides together. Each component has its own literature. GHK-Cu is studied for collagen synthesis and connective tissue repair in cell and animal models, as set out in the GHK-Cu research reference. BPC-157 is studied in gut, tendon and blood-vessel models, and TB-500, the acetylated actin-binding fragment of thymosin beta-4, in cell migration and wound models; both are covered in their own references.

KPV is the C-terminal tripeptide of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. In human intestinal epithelial and immune cells, nanomolar KPV inhibited NF-kappaB and MAP kinase inflammatory signalling and was taken up through the PepT1 di- and tripeptide transporter, and in two mouse colitis models it reduced inflammation (Dalmasso et al., Gastroenterology, 2008). It is the one component of KLOW without its own research reference in this series.

Our summaries are in what is KLOW, KLOW vs GLOW and GHK-Cu vs KLOW.

Stability

Each component takes the same 8 to 12 week window once mixed, but each has a different weak point: copper loss or exchange for GHK-Cu, slow hydrolysis for BPC-157, enzymes from contamination for TB-500, and heat-driven ring formation for KPV. Storage follows the least stable of them. The KLOW stability page covers each route and what a colour change means.

Solubility

All four components are hydrophilic, so KLOW dissolves readily in bacteriostatic water to a clear blue solution without any acid. The KLOW solubility guide explains why, why acids and phosphate buffers are avoided, and what causes haze.

Handling

Bench practice for KLOW is mostly about keeping the solution cold, dark, sterile and free of anything that competes for copper. The KLOW handling page lists the steps and the common mistakes.

On arrival

What a sealed vial should look like, why it travels without an ice pack and where the vial and the spray go first are on the KLOW on-arrival page.

Storage and reconstitution

Fridge and freezer windows, before and after mixing, are on how long KLOW lasts. Water volumes and the concentration table for an 80 mg vial, including each component’s share, are on how much bacteriostatic water for a KLOW Blend 80 mg vial.

FAQ

Short answers to the questions researchers ask most about storing, mixing and handling KLOW are on the KLOW FAQ.

Where to get it

Vistara Labs supplies KLOW Blend 80 mg as a lyophilised vial for laboratory research, shipped within Canada by Canada Post Xpresspost. A ready-mixed KLOW Nasal Spray is also available, and KPV is sold on its own as KPV 10 mg. Certificates are on our lab reports page.