GHK-Cu vs NAD+ — a copper tripeptide and a coenzyme
GHK-Cu is a tripeptide — glycine, histidine, lysine — bound to copper, studied largely in skin and wound-repair models. NAD+ is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a coenzyme built from nucleotides rather than amino acids and central to cellular redox reactions. They are different classes of molecule studied in different areas, and the comparison exists because of catalogue adjacency rather than chemistry.
Like MOTS-c and NAD+, this is a comparison between two different classes of molecule. It is worth writing only because the pairing keeps being made.
What each one is
| GHK-Cu | NAD+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Class | Copper-bound tripeptide | Dinucleotide coenzyme |
| Built from | Three amino acids plus a copper ion | Nucleotides |
| Main research area | Skin and wound-repair models | Cellular redox and metabolism |
| Characterisation | Sequence, mass, and the copper complex | Small-molecule identity and purity |
The copper changes the documentation
A certificate for GHK-Cu that reports only sequence purity has not addressed the complex. The copper content is part of what defines the material, and a certificate that ignores it is describing a different substance than the one on the label.
Why the shelf is not a category
- Catalogue adjacency reflects who buys, not what the molecules are.
- Storage and stability expectations differ between a metal complex and a small-molecule coenzyme.
- Purity conventions differ; the same number does not mean the same thing.
- "Anti-ageing" as a shared label describes marketing, not a shared pathway.
The compounds discussed here
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
- What makes GHK-Cu different from a plain peptide?
- It is a copper complex. The tripeptide binds a copper ion, and the copper is part of what the research literature is about. That also means analytical characterisation has to account for the metal, not just the sequence.
- Is NAD+ a peptide?
- No. It is a dinucleotide coenzyme, built from nucleotides rather than amino acids. It is stocked alongside peptides because the research audience overlaps.
- Why do they appear in the same searches?
- Both are associated with ageing and repair research in popular writing, so they surface together. That is an audience overlap, not a mechanistic or chemical relationship.
References
Primary literature for the compounds above. Links open the record on PubMed.
- The potential of GHK as an anti-aging peptide Pickart L, et al. Aging Pathobiol Ther. 2022. PMID 35083444 → · summary
- Regenerative and Protective Actions of the GHK-Cu Peptide in the Light of the New Gene Data Pickart L, et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2018. PMID 29986520 → · summary