KISSPEPTIN: 10 mg ($25)
Overview
Kisspeptin is a signaling peptide that sits at the very top of the reproductive hormone cascade. In males, the result of that cascade is increased testosterone production. In females, it drives estrogen production and the hormone surge that triggers ovulation. Its discovery reorganized scientific understanding of how that system is switched on.
In plain terms
The reproductive hormone system runs as a relay. The hypothalamus releases a signal, which prompts the pituitary to release two further hormones, which in turn act on the gonads. For a long time the hypothalamic signal was treated as the beginning of the chain.
Kisspeptin turned out to sit one step above it. The finding came from human genetics: people with inactivating mutations in the gene for its receptor failed to enter puberty. That established kisspeptin as an essential upstream gatekeeper — without its signal, the rest of the cascade does not start. It has since become a central tool for studying how the reproductive axis is regulated, and how factors like nutritional state and stress feed into that regulation. The gene's peculiar name comes from the laboratory where it was discovered, in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Technical description
Kisspeptin refers to a family of peptides cleaved from the KISS1 gene product. Kisspeptin-10, the shortest bioactive fragment, is a decapeptide comprising the C-terminal region required for receptor activation.
The peptide is an agonist at KISS1R (formerly GPR54), a class A G protein-coupled receptor signaling through Gq/11 to phospholipase C, generating IP3 and DAG with subsequent intracellular calcium mobilization. Activation of KISS1R on hypothalamic GnRH neurons stimulates gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion, positioning kisspeptin upstream of the entire hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Loss-of-function mutations in KISS1R produce normosmic idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Kisspeptin-10 has a short circulating half-life owing to rapid proteolytic degradation.
- Full name
- Kisspeptin-10 (metastin 45–54)
- Synonyms
- KP-10, metastin fragment
- Molecular formula
- C63H83N17O14
- Molecular weight
- 1302.5 g/mol
- Sequence
- YNWNSFGLRF-NH2
- Receptor target
- KISS1R / GPR54 (class A GPCR, Gq/11)
- Gene
- KISS1
- Appearance
- White lyophilized powder
- Storage
- Lyophilized: −20 °C, protected from light. Reconstituted: 2–8 °C.
Regulatory status
Kisspeptin is not an FDA-approved drug and is not a dietary supplement. It has been investigated in academic clinical research settings under regulatory oversight but holds no marketing authorization. Material supplied for laboratory research is not manufactured, tested, or released under pharmaceutical standards.