AOD-9604 is a synthetic peptide corresponding to the C-terminal fragment of human growth hormone — residues 177 to 191 — with an additional tyrosine at the N-terminus for stability, giving a 16-residue molecule. The design idea behind it dates to fragment-mapping studies of hGH in the 1990s: the question of which regions of the 191-residue hormone carry which of its activities, answered by synthesizing fragments and characterizing them separately. AOD-9604 is the best-known product of that program and one of the most catalogued hGH fragments in research supply.
Research background
Fragment mapping of large hormones is a standard research strategy: a 191-residue protein like hGH interacts with its receptor and with metabolic pathways through different structural regions, and short synthetic fragments let investigators study one region’s contribution in isolation. The C-terminal region that AOD-9604 reproduces has been the subject of a substantial body of in vitro and animal-model literature examining its properties independent of the full hormone — notably, it does not bind the growth hormone receptor the way the parent molecule does, which is exactly the kind of dissociation fragment studies exist to characterize.
Structure and analytical profile
AOD-9604 is a 16-amino-acid peptide (Tyr + hGH 177-191) with a molecular weight of approximately 1,815 g/mol. The native fragment contains a disulfide bridge between its two cysteine residues, and that bridge is an analytical checkpoint: oxidized (bridged) and reduced forms differ by two mass units, and a careful certificate establishes identity consistent with the correctly bridged form. Purity is profiled chromatographically as standard.
Verifying a lot
Lot number on the certificate matches the vial; issuing laboratory named with the original report attached; report verifiable with the laboratory directly. Every AOD-9604 lot we sell publishes its certificate in the certificate archive, searchable by product and lot number.
Handling notes
Supplied lyophilized; store cool, dark and dry until laboratory use. Standard research practice reconstitutes with bacteriostatic water. For qualified laboratory settings only.
Frequently asked research questions
Is AOD-9604 the same as growth hormone? No. It is a 16-residue synthetic fragment of the 191-residue hormone, and in receptor studies it does not act as the parent molecule does — which is the point of studying fragments separately.
What does the number 9604 mean? It is a development-program designation from the original fragment research, not a chemical descriptor.
What should an AOD-9604 certificate show? Identity by mass spectrometry consistent with ~1,815 g/mol with the disulfide bridge intact, chromatographic purity, lot number, issuing laboratory, report date.
All products discussed are for laboratory research use only and are not for human or veterinary consumption. Nothing here describes or endorses any use in humans or animals.