Kisspeptin-10 — wholesale 10-vial kits

Research context

Kisspeptin-10 is the C-terminally amidated decapeptide Tyr-Asn-Trp-Asn-Ser-Phe-Gly-Leu-Arg-Phe-NH2, the shortest naturally occurring kisspeptin. The family comes from the KISS1 gene product (UniProt Q15726), which was identified in 1996 as a melanoma metastasis-suppressor gene — hence the alternative name metastin for the 54-residue form isolated from human placenta in 2001 as the ligand of the orphan receptor then called hOT7T175. Kisspeptin-10 corresponds to residues 112–121 of the precursor, equivalently metastin 45–54, and is the fragment most used in receptor work.

The molecular design is all in the C-terminus. The terminal Arg-Phe-NH2 places kisspeptin in the RF-amide peptide family, and the amide is not optional: removing it drops activity at the kisspeptin receptor sharply, which is why free-acid material is a failed synthesis rather than a variant. The amide also shifts the mass by about 1 Da from the free acid, so LC-MS is the practical test. The decapeptide carries a tryptophan (useful for UV quantitation) and a single arginine, and is otherwise unmodified; its short length and flexible glycine-containing core make it a convenient scaffold for the analog series that substitute D-amino acids or non-natural residues to resist proteolysis.

Target pharmacology is well defined at the molecular level. Two 2001 reports — one in Nature, one in the Journal of Biological Chemistry — established the kisspeptins as the endogenous ligands of the Gq-coupled receptor now called KISS1R (formerly GPR54), which signals through phospholipase C, inositol-phosphate accumulation and intracellular calcium release. In 2003 two independent groups reported in PNAS and the New England Journal of Medicine that inactivating KISS1R variants segregate with failure of the reproductive axis to activate, which established the receptor's physiological role. KISS1R is expressed on hypothalamic GnRH neurons, and kisspeptin signaling is now regarded as a key upstream regulator of GnRH release — the axis in which gonadorelin is the downstream reference ligand.

That makes kisspeptin-10 a standard reference agonist: calcium-mobilization and inositol-phosphate assays in KISS1R-expressing lines, radioligand competition binding, electrophysiology and calcium imaging in GnRH-neuron preparations and hypothalamic explants, pituitary and hypothalamic perifusion models in rodents and non-human primates, and metastasis-suppressor cell-migration and invasion assays that trace back to the original KISS1 work. It is also an analytical reference standard, since distinguishing kisspeptin-10 from kisspeptin-13, -14 and -54 by mass is routine in method development.

Regulatory position, stated factually: there is no FDA-approved kisspeptin product and the peptide remains investigational; academic studies are registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. FDA placed kisspeptin-10 in category 2 of its interim policy on bulk drug substances nominated for 503A compounding on September 29, 2023, and it was not among the peptide substances covered by the October 2026 HHS interim enforcement-discretion notice. WholesalePeptide.us supplies it as a research reference standard for in-vitro, analytical and preclinical laboratory research.

The C-terminal amide is essential to activity and changes the mass by about 1 Da compared with the free acid. The LC-MS identity line on each lot COA distinguishes the two forms.

Research areas

• KISS1R (GPR54) receptor pharmacology
• GnRH neuron regulation
• reproductive neuroendocrinology in animal models
• RF-amide peptide structure–activity
• metastasis-suppressor biology
• KISS1R calcium-mobilization and inositol-phosphate assays
• cell-migration and invasion assays from KISS1 metastasis-suppressor work

U.S. regulatory status of the compound (as an active ingredient): Not approved by the FDA; remains investigational. The material sold here is a research reference chemical, not a drug product.

Handling and storage

• Store lyophilized vials at −20 °C, sealed, protected from light and moisture.
• Let the vial equilibrate to room temperature before opening to limit condensation.
• Reconstitute in an appropriate sterile buffer or solvent according to your laboratory SOP.
• Aliquot reconstituted material and avoid repeated freeze–thaw.