ACTH 1-39 Research Peptide

Yes. Every batch of ACTH 1-39 is tested by an independent third-party laboratory using HPLC and MS-UPLC, confirming purity and mass identity before the batch is released. Pure Peptides does not test its own material.

It means ACTH 1-39 is supplied for in-vitro laboratory research and for no other purpose, and must not be administered to humans or animals. ACTH 1-39 is legal to purchase in the United States for in vitro and non-clinical laboratory research. Corticotropin is the active ingredient of a prescription medicine sold under another name, prepared from an animal-derived source rather than by peptide synthesis. The material supplied here is a research-grade synthetic preparation, is not that medicine, and holds no marketing authorisation. ACTH 1-39 is not a scheduled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Sold strictly for qualified research use, not human or veterinary administration.

ACTH 1-39 ships from US stock with cold-chain packaging and full tracking; orders placed before noon EST on business days are typically dispatched the same business day. On arrival, store the lyophilized powder at -20°C or below, dry and protected from light.

MC2R is the only one of the five melanocortin receptors that cannot reach the cell surface on its own. A protein called MRAP is required for it to traffic there and to signal. MRAP was identified in 2005 through genetic mapping of a form of inherited unresponsiveness to ACTH in which the receptor gene itself is intact. A 2009 study showed that MRAP and its homologue MRAP2 work in two directions at once: enabling MC2R while reducing how strongly the other four melanocortin receptors respond to a melanocortin agonist.

The published binding work points the other way. In mouse adrenocortical cells expressing MC2R, radiolabelled ACTH 1-39 bound at a dissociation constant of about 130 picomolar, and four other melanocortin peptides tested against it could not compete for that binding at all. The authors describe it as the first clear demonstration that the ACTH receptor binds ACTH and not the other melanocortins. That selectivity is what separates this peptide from the other melanocortin compounds listed on this site.