Cartalax Research: The Ala-Glu-Asp (AED) Tripeptide and Its Literature

What is Cartalax?

What is Cartalax? A synthetic tripeptide — three amino acids, Ala-Glu-Asp, written AED. It is the Ala-Glu-Asp core shared by Epitalon (AEDG), Cortagen (AEDP), Bronchogen (AEDL) and Cardiogen (AEDR) with nothing appended — the shortest member of that sub-family.

The code-name problem, in one compound. This molecule appears in the literature under at least three labels: “Cartalax”, “AED” and the internal code “T-31”. The PubChem record for CID 87815447 lists all three as synonyms, and Chalisova et al. (2015) write “T-31 (AED)” in the abstract, which is what makes the mapping traceable at all. A great deal of secondary writing about this compound attributes findings to the wrong label as a result. The overview page covers why this practice makes the family’s literature hard to audit.

Reference data

Identity and form only, from the public chemical record (PubChem CID 87815447), which lists “Cartalax” and “T-31 peptide” among its synonyms.

A CAS number for this sequence could not be sourced from an authoritative record and is therefore omitted rather than guessed. No handling quantity, reconstitution procedure or route is given or implied.

What the literature has examined

• Skin fibroblasts in culture — Linkova et al. (2016, Bull Exp Biol Med, PMID 27259496) examined Ki-67, CD98hc, caspase-3 and MMP-9 by immunofluorescent confocal microscopy in ageing skin fibroblast cultures, reporting that AED and AEDG suppressed caspase-dependent apoptosis where the other peptides tested did not.
• Kidney tissue culture — Chalisova et al. (2015, Bull Exp Biol Med, PMID 26033601) examined proliferation (Ki-67) and p53 in organotypic kidney explants from young and old rats, reporting that T-31 (AED) and T-35 (EDL) acted in the same direction as a calf-kidney polypeptide complex but to a lesser degree. Khavinson et al. (2014, Adv Gerontol, PMID 25946838) examined p16, p21, p53 and SIRT6 in ageing renal cell culture and modelled peptide–DNA complexes computationally.
• Mesenchymal stem cell ageing — Ashapkin et al. (2020, Mol Biol Rep, PMID 32399807) examined IGF1, FOXO1, TERT, TNKS2 and NF-κB expression across two ageing models of human bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
• Neuronal differentiation of stem cells — Caputi et al. (2019, Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol, PMID 30791821) examined GAP43 expression in human periodontal ligament stem cells exposed to AED alongside KED, KE and AEDG.

That is the located record. None of it is in cartilage, chondrocytes or joint tissue.

Evidence status — what is not established

The 2022 family review from the originating group designates Cartalax a “chondroprotector” and cites that designation to a Russian patent (RU2299741C1, on a peptide normalising metabolism in bone and cartilaginous tissue) rather than to a study. A patent documents a claim and a preparation; it is not peer-reviewed evidence, and in this case there is no peer-reviewed cartilage work behind it that this page could find.

What is not established: any effect in cartilage or joint tissue, for which no published study was located; any effect in humans, for which no study was located; and independent replication of the cell-culture findings above, all of which list Khavinson or a direct collaborator among their authors. The cell-culture results themselves are real measurements in real experiments — they are simply measurements of marker expression in cultured cells, several evidentiary levels below anything about an organism. Nothing on this page is a claim about what this compound does in a person.

How to verify this compound yourself

Mass spectrometry should confirm the measured mass against the expected ≈ 333 Da. That is the lowest mass in this sub-family and separates AED cleanly from AEDG (Epitalon, ≈ 390 Da), AEDP (Cortagen, ≈ 430 Da) and AEDL (Bronchogen, ≈ 446 Da). Because a supplier may label the same molecule “Cartalax”, “AED” or “T-31”, the mass figure is also the practical way to confirm that three differently-labelled vials are or are not the same thing. HPLC purity is reported as a percentage. See how to read a COA and how to verify peptide purity, and check a specific batch on the verify tool.

Research-grade sourcing and verification

Cartalax is not held in stock. It is listed on our sourcing catalogue as available to order — our supplier lists it, we have not bought it, and material of this kind typically takes about two to three weeks to reach us. For laboratory research use only, it is supplied with a per-batch Certificate of Analysis reporting HPLC purity (%) and mass-spec identity confirmation. Related pages: the bioregulator overview, Cortagen, Cardiogen and Epitalon. This is sourcing and quality-assurance framing only.

Frequently asked questions

Literature cited

1. Lin’kova NS, Drobintseva AO, Orlova OA, et al. “Peptide Regulation of Skin Fibroblast Functions during Their Aging In Vitro.” Bull Exp Biol Med. 2016;161(1):175–178. PMID 27259496. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27259496.
2. Chalisova NI, Lin’kova NS, Nichik TE, et al. “Peptide Regulation of Cells Renewal Processes in Kidney Tissue Cultures from Young and Old Animals.” Bull Exp Biol Med. 2015;159(1):124–127. PMID 26033601. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26033601 (maps the T-31 code to AED).
3. Khavinson VKh, Tarnovskaia SI, Lin’kova NS, et al. “Tripeptides slow down aging process in renal cell culture.” Adv Gerontol. 2014;27(4):651–656. PMID 25946838. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25946838 (Russian-language; English abstract only).
4. Ashapkin V, Khavinson V, Shilovsky G, Linkova N, Vanyushin B. “Gene expression in human mesenchymal stem cell aging cultures: modulation by short peptides.” Mol Biol Rep. 2020;47(6):4323–4329. PMID 32399807. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32399807.
5. Caputi S, Trubiani O, Sinjari B, et al. “Effect of short peptides on neuronal differentiation of stem cells.” Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2019;33:2058738419828613. PMID 30791821. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30791821.
6. Khavinson V, Linkova N, Kozhevnikova E, et al. “Transport of Biologically Active Ultrashort Peptides Using POT and LAT Carriers.” Int J Mol Sci. 2022;23(14):7733. PMID 35887081. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35887081 (family sequence table; cites the chondroprotector designation to patent RU2299741C1).
7. National Center for Biotechnology Information. “PubChem Compound Summary for CID 87815447, Ala-Glu-Asp.” pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/87815447 (formula, mass, Cartalax / T-31 synonyms).