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Cjc-1295 Structure And Mechanism — 2026 Update

By Editorial Desk · published 2025-07-27 · last reviewed 2025-08-11 · Info

A practical reference on Albumin binding: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.

This page was last updated on 2025-08-11 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.

CJC-1295 Structure And Mechanism

The drug affinity complex is a maleimidopropionic acid group attached to a lysine side chain. It reacts with the free thiol of cysteine-34 on circulating albumin, forming a covalent bond. This conjugation keeps the peptide in the bloodstream and shields it from rapid renal filtration and proteolysis. Reported circulation half-lives for the albumin-bound form fall in the range of roughly six to nine days in early human studies.

Binding to GHRH receptors on pituitary somatotroph cells triggers cyclic AMP signaling and stimulates growth hormone synthesis and release. Because the peptide acts upstream of the pituitary, effects are mediated through endogenous growth hormone rather than direct receptor activation in peripheral tissues. Increases in insulin-like growth factor 1 are generally described as a downstream consequence. Most published human exposure data come from small early-stage studies, and the clinical significance of the pharmacokinetic profile remains incompletely characterized.

CJC-1295 is a synthetic analogue of growth hormone-releasing hormone, built on the 29-amino-acid GHRH(1-29) fragment. Four substitutions distinguish it from the natural sequence: D-alanine at position 2, glutamine at position 8, alanine at position 15, and leucine at position 27. These changes reduce enzymatic cleavage and extend the peptide's persistence in circulation. The compound is discussed in two forms, one carrying a drug affinity complex and one without it.

CJC-1295 Background and Mechanism

Pharmacokinetic behaviour differs sharply between the two forms. The DAC-bearing peptide shows an extended circulation time measured in days, whereas the version without the complex is cleared within roughly half an hour. This gap shapes how researchers design dosing schedules in animal models. Whether the prolonged presence of the DAC form produces effects meaningfully different from the short-acting variant remains an open question, since comparative human data are scarce.

CJC-1295 is a synthetic peptide designed to mimic growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the endogenous signal that prompts the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. The compound is a modified fragment of the natural hormone, spanning the first twenty-nine amino acids of GHRH with several substitutions that slow enzymatic breakdown. Two variants circulate in research settings: one carrying a drug affinity complex (DAC) and one without it. The DAC-free form is frequently labelled Mod GRF(1-29) in catalogs and discussion forums.

Cjc-1295 at a glance

PropertyValueNotes
Physical formLyophilized white powderSupplied as a freeze-dried solid for research use
Molecular weightApproximately 3,647 Da (DAC form)Lower for the variant lacking the albumin-binding moiety
SolubilitySoluble in water and aqueous bufferTypically dissolved in sterile or bacteriostatic water
Typical storage temperature−20 °C or belowDry powder, desiccated and protected from light
Common analytical methodReversed-phase HPLC with mass spectrometryUsed for purity estimation and identity confirmation

Albumin Binding and Duration of Action

Enzymatic protection is a separate mechanism from plasma protein binding. The four substitutions in the backbone reduce recognition by dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which normally cleaves the natural hormone within minutes. Without the reactive group, this resistance still yields only a short window of activity, generally reported in the range of tens of minutes. With it, reported half-lives in early human work extended to several days. The size of that gap is the main practical distinction between the two materials.

Both forms act at the pituitary receptor for growth hormone-releasing hormone and increase growth hormone output, which in turn raises insulin-like growth factor 1. A long-acting analog produces sustained rather than pulsatile stimulation, and the physiological consequences of that pattern are not fully settled. Published human data on the extended form remain limited, and much of what circulates in discussion traces to early company reports rather than independent replication. How sustained exposure affects normal feedback remains an open question.

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Identity and Naming History

Naming in this area is inconsistent, and readers should treat product labels with care. In much of the literature and in vendor catalogs, the unqualified term refers to the albumin-binding version, while the version lacking the DAC group appears as modified GRF(1-29), mod GRF(1-29), or the same name with a without-DAC qualifier. Because one abbreviation has been applied to both materials, the only reliable way to identify a sample is to check the stated sequence and the presence of the linker.

CJC-1295 is the name used for a synthetic peptide modeled on growth hormone-releasing hormone, the hypothalamic signal that prompts the pituitary to release growth hormone. The compound was described by a Canadian drug discovery company in the mid-2000s as a long-acting research tool. Two closely related molecules share the name in practice: one carries a drug affinity complex, or DAC, group, and one does not. The distinction matters because the two behave differently in circulation.

Mechanism and Pharmacokinetics

Studies in this area generally track growth hormone pulses, insulin-like growth factor 1 concentrations, and occasionally body composition endpoints. Most published human data come from early, small trials, and questions about long-term effects remain open. Whether repeated exposure alters pituitary responsiveness over time is not settled. Analytical work relies on immunoassays for the hormones and on mass spectrometry for the peptide itself, because the two measurements answer different questions.

Binding of the peptide to the growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor on pituitary somatotrophs triggers a G protein coupled cascade that raises cyclic AMP and opens calcium channels. The result is greater secretion of growth hormone into the bloodstream. Because the peptide acts at the same receptor as the natural hypothalamic hormone, its effect is amplified pulse size rather than an entirely separate release pathway. Receptor binding alone does not determine the response, since somatostatin tone and other inputs modulate the final output.

Background and Molecular Features

The core sequence keeps the receptor-binding region of GHRH while replacing four positions that are vulnerable to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and other proteases. Substitutions at positions 2, 8, 15, and 27 raise metabolic stability relative to the natural hormone. The N-terminal residues remain essential for activity, so changes there generally lower potency. Molecular weight sits near 3368 daltons for the tetrasubstituted analog without the linker, while the albumin-binding form is heavier because of the added maleimide group.

CJC-1295 is a synthetic peptide modeled on growth hormone-releasing hormone, the hypothalamic signal that prompts the pituitary to release growth hormone. Its sequence corresponds to the first twenty-nine residues of human GHRH, with four substitutions that slow enzymatic breakdown. Early descriptions placed the compound in research on growth hormone deficiency and related conditions, and later literature groups it with the long-acting GHRH analogs. The name appears in both laboratory and popular fitness writing, where it sometimes labels chemically different peptides.

Two related peptides circulate under the CJC-1295 label, and they differ mainly in how long they persist in circulation. The version carrying a drug affinity complex includes a maleimidopropionic acid linker that forms a covalent bond with serum albumin. The other version, usually written as modified GRF(1-29) or tetrasubstituted GRF(1-29), lacks that linker and is cleared quickly. Mixing the two produces inconsistent readings of published half-life values, because the linker rather than the receptor-facing sequence drives most of the difference.

Notes from published material

Kastl has made appearances in the blockbuster films Hulk and War of the Worlds. Kastl had a recurring role on Scrubs for 8 years from 2001 to 2009 as Dr. Doug Murphy, the totally incompetent doctor who finally finds his calling as a very competent forensic pathologist. However, he asked to be allowed to "sit out" the fourth season of Scrubs as he had broken both his heels in a ski jumping accident. This was written into the show to keep the character around and, as described on the DVD commentary by creator Bill Lawrence, "We felt that breaking both of his feet was a very 'Doug' thing to do, so we decided to write it into the show." He had a recurring role, as FBI agent Todd Jaracki, for the single season of Patrick Swayze's The Beast (2009).

=== Pharmacokinetics === Mephedrone is rapidly absorbed and eliminated in humans. After oral or intranasal administration, peak plasma concentrations are typically reached within 0.5 to 1 hour. The drug crosses the blood-brain barrier easily, with a brain-to-plasma ratio of approximately 1.85 in rats. It has a relatively short half-life of approximately 2 hours in plasma and whole blood. The drug and its metabolites can be detected in whole blood and plasma for up to 6 hours post-administration, with some metabolites persisting longer. Mephedrone exhibits enantioselective pharmacokinetics. The R-(+) enantiomer shows higher peak concentrations and a longer half-life compared to the S-(-) enantiomer. The absolute bioavailability of mephedrone is relatively low, at about 10% in rats, suggesting a significant first-pass effect. The percentage of mephedrone bound to plasma proteins is approximately 22%. These pharmacokinetic properties contribute to mephedrone's rapid onset of action, short duration of effects, and the tendency for users to engage in repeated dosing to maintain the desired effects.

In 1917–18, two groups of scientists, Lise Meitner in collaboration with Otto Hahn of Germany and Frederick Soddy and John Cranston of Great Britain, independently discovered another isotope, 231Pa, having a much longer half-life of 32,760 years. Meitner changed the name "brevium" to protactinium as the new element was part of the decay chain of uranium-235 as the parent of actinium (from the Greek: πρῶτος prôtos, meaning "first, before"). The IUPAC confirmed this naming in 1949. The discovery of protactinium completed one of the last gaps in early versions of the periodic table, and brought fame to the involved scientists. Aristid von Grosse produced 2 milligrams of Pa2O5 in 1927, and in 1934 first isolated elemental protactinium from 0.1 milligrams of Pa2O5. He used two different procedures: in the first, protactinium oxide was irradiated by 35 keV electrons in vacuum. In the other, called the van Arkel–de Boer process, the oxide was chemically converted to a halide (chloride, bromide or iodide) and then reduced in a vacuum with an electrically heated metallic filament:

== Research == His research proposed that peptide hormones are produced from large precursor proteins. In 1967, Chrétien first articulated the prohormone theory, proposing that peptide hormones are produced from larger precursors, a paradigm later widely confirmed and foundational for modern endocrinology. In 1976, his team discovered human β-endorphin, advancing understanding of endogenous opioid systems in pain and stress biology. In 1990, Chrétien and collaborators identified the family of proprotein convertases (PCs/PCSK1–9), endoproteases that activate many precursor proteins and hormones, helping to establish a field often termed “functional endoproteolysis.” A loss-of-function PCSK9 variant characterized in French-Canadian families by Chrétien’s group is associated with markedly low LDL cholesterol and cardioprotection, work that helped validate PCSK9 as a therapeutic target. Chrétien’s prohormone/convertase research has had broad clinical impact, informing therapies and biological understanding in diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, cancer, opiate use disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease. Between 1981 and 1990, he ranked among the world’s most-cited scientists (reported as seventh globally) reflecting the reach of his contributions.

January 1916: creation of Secret Inter-Party Citizen's Committee (pl. Tajny Międzypartyjny Komitet Obywatelski) formed by members of the German Reichstag of Polish nationality. July 1918: a network of local Citizens' Committees is created on area of Prussian Partition. 11 October 1918: Polish organizations in the German Empire publicise common documents in which they declare the will to create independent Polish state and, in effect, revolution. 9 November 1918: beginning of the German Revolution, which also occurred in Greater Poland. Poles organized secret military structures in the Poznań garrison, Jarocin and Inowrocław. 10 November 1918: events of the so-called Republic of Ostrów. 11 November 1918 Armistice signed, ending the hostilities of World War I. The Citizens' Guard (Straż Obywatelska), renamed a few days later to the People's Guard (Straż Ludowa), comes out from the underground. The mayor of Poznań (Posen), Ernst Wilms, is removed from office. German military authorities give permission for functioning of the People's Guard to keep peace in the Province of Posen. 12 November 1918 The Central Citizen's Committee, later renamed to the Supreme People's Council (Naczelna Rada Ludowa, NRL), creates temporary "government-in-waiting" Commission (Komisariat): Stanisław Adamski, Wojciech Korfanty, and Adam Poszwiński. Jarogniew Drwęski becomes the Mayor of Poznań. 13 November 1918 Commission of the High People's Council calls citizens of German portion of Poland to keep calm in spite of the revolution.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Further detail

==== Thermoelectrics ==== Adding 0.6% graphene to a mixture of lanthanum and partly reduced strontium titanium oxide produces a strong Seebeck at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 750 °C (compared to 500–750 without graphene). The material converts 5% of the heat into electricity (compared to 1% for strontium titanium oxide.)

In the face of this radical liberation of the musical material, Adorno came to criticize those who, like Stravinsky, withdrew from this freedom by taking recourse to forms of the past as well as those who turned twelve-tone composition into a technique that dictated the rules of composition. Adorno saw the culture industry as an arena in which critical tendencies or potentialities were eliminated. He argued that the culture industry, which produced and circulated cultural commodities through the mass media, manipulated the population. Popular culture was identified as a reason why people become passive; the easy pleasures available through consumption of popular culture made people docile and content, no matter how terrible their economic circumstances. "Capitalist production so confines them, body and soul, that they fall helpless victims to what is offered them." The differences among cultural goods make them appear different, but they are in fact just variations on the same theme. He wrote that "the same thing is offered to everybody by the standardized production of consumption goods," but the truth is concealed under "the manipulation of taste and the official culture's pretense of individualism." By doing so, the culture industry appeals to every single consumer in a unique and personalized way, all while maintaining minimal costs and effort on their behalf.

=== Release of GSTs as an indication of organ damage === The high intracellular concentrations of GSTs coupled with their cell-specific cellular distribution allows them to function as biomarkers for localising and monitoring injury to defined cell types. For example, hepatocytes contain high levels of alpha GST and serum alpha GST has been found to be an indicator of hepatocyte injury in transplantation, toxicity and viral infections. Similarly, in humans, renal proximal tubular cells contain high concentrations of alpha GST, while distal tubular cells contain pi GST. This specific distribution enables the measurement of urinary GSTs to be used to quantify and localise renal tubular injury in transplantation, nephrotoxicity and ischaemic injury. In rodent pre-clinical studies, urinary and serum alpha GST have been shown to be sensitive and specific indicators of renal proximal tubular and hepatocyte necrosis respectively.

==== MeSH E05.196.401 – electrophoresis ==== MeSH E05.196.401.153 – electrophoresis, agar gel MeSH E05.196.401.153.150 – comet assay MeSH E05.196.401.190 – electrophoresis, capillary MeSH E05.196.401.190.500 – electrophoresis, microchip MeSH E05.196.401.200 – electrophoresis, cellulose acetate MeSH E05.196.401.220 – electrophoresis, gel, pulsed-field MeSH E05.196.401.250 – electrophoresis, gel, two-dimensional MeSH E05.196.401.319 – electrophoresis, paper MeSH E05.196.401.319.670 – nucleotide mapping MeSH E05.196.401.319.670.100 – blotting, northern MeSH E05.196.401.319.670.150 – blotting, southern MeSH E05.196.401.319.720 – peptide mapping MeSH E05.196.401.402 – electrophoresis, polyacrylamide gel MeSH E05.196.401.402.236 – electrophoresis, disc MeSH E05.196.401.402.250 – electrophoresis, gel, two-dimensional MeSH E05.196.401.485 – electrophoresis, starch gel MeSH E05.196.401.500 – electrophoretic mobility shift assay MeSH E05.196.401.568 – immunoelectrophoresis MeSH E05.196.401.568.250 – counterimmunoelectrophoresis MeSH E05.196.401.568.520 – immunoelectrophoresis, two-dimensional MeSH E05.196.401.663 – isoelectric focusing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Supporting material

=== Sealing of the Guwahati factory === In 2022, the Mumbai Crime Branch closed down the company's Guwahati facility after discovering that a Pan masala product produced by the company in Guwahati was found in the possession of a dealer in Solapur (Maharashtra), where the manufacturing, selling, and storage of Pan masala are prohibited. However, within two weeks, the factory was de-sealed following a Guwahati High Court order.

Following independence on 15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru served as prime minister of the Dominion of India, remaining caretaker until 1951, shortly after India became a republic in 1950. Led by Nehru, the Congress won the 1951, 1957, and 1962 general elections comfortably. After Nehru died in May 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri became prime minister. Shastri died in January 1966, shortly after signing the Tashkent Peace Declaration. The Congress chose Indira Gandhi as prime minister, leading the party to election victories in 1967 and 1971. In 1975, she declared a state of emergency, suspending civil liberties, which led to Congress being voted out in 1977. Congress returned to power in 1980. Following a military operation at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her and won the late 1984 elections. During the general election campaign of 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Sri Lankan Tamil separatist. Congress emerged from the elections as the largest party, and P. V. Narasimha Rao formed a minority government that completed a full five-year term. After the 1999 elections, the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee led a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition and became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a five-year term. The NDA was defeated in 2004 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Manmohan Singh served as prime minister with external support, returning with increased, independent numbers in 2009.

Founded in 1896 by Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, the company was known early on for producing various vitamin preparations and derivatives. In 1934, it became the first company to mass-produce synthetic vitamin C, under the brand name Redoxon. During the Second World War, Roche collaborated with the Nazi regime in Germany and used forced labour in its German and Polish-based factories. It also moved all its Jewish employees to the United States to save them from Nazi attention. In 1957, Hoffmann-La Roche introduced the class of tranquilizers known as benzodiazepines (with Valium and Rohypnol being the best known members). It manufactures and sells several cancer drugs and is a leader in this field. In 1956, the first antidepressant, iproniazid, was accidentally created during an experiment while synthesizing isoniazid. Originally, it had been intended to create a more efficient drug at combatting tuberculosis. Iproniazid, however, was revealed to have its own benefits; some people felt it made them feel happier. It was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s due to toxic side-effects. In 1976, an accident at a chemical factory in Seveso, Italy, owned by a subsidiary of Roche, caused a large dioxin contamination. In 1982, the United States arm of the company acquired Biomedical Reference Laboratories for US$163.5 million. That company dated from the late 1960s, and was located in Burlington, North Carolina. That year Hoffmann-La Roche then merged it with all of its laboratories, and incorporated the merged company as Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc. in Burlington.

atom of cysteine residues to anchor proteins to cellular membranes. Unlike the GPI and myritoyl anchors, these groups are not necessarily added at the termini. carboxylation A relatively rare modification that adds an extra carboxylate group (and, hence, a double negative charge) to a glutamate side chain, producing a Gla residue. This is used to strengthen the binding to "hard" metal ions such as calcium. ADP-ribosylation The large ADP-ribosyl group can be transferred to several types of side chains within proteins, with heterogeneous effects. This modification is a target for the powerful toxins of disparate bacteria, e.g., Vibrio cholerae, Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Bordetella pertussis. ubiquitination and SUMOylation Various full-length, folded proteins can be attached at their C-termini to the sidechain ammonium groups of lysines of other proteins. Ubiquitin is the most common of these, and usually signals that the ubiquitin-tagged protein should be degraded. Most of the polypeptide modifications listed above occur post-translationally, i.e., after the protein has been synthesized on the ribosome, typically occurring in the endoplasmic reticulum, a subcellular organelle of the eukaryotic cell. Many other chemical reactions (e.g., cyanylation) have been applied to proteins by chemists, although they are not found in biological systems.

=== TNXB (functional gene) === The TNXB gene localizes to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC class III) region on chromosome 6. The structure of this gene is unusual in that it overlaps the CREBL1 and CYP21A2 genes at its 5' and 3' ends, respectively.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Frequently asked questions

How does CJC-1295 differ from modified GRF(1-29)?

The two share the same 29-amino-acid backbone. CJC-1295 carries an additional albumin-binding moiety that markedly extends its residence time in circulation, while the form without that moiety clears faster. Literature sometimes applies the name loosely to either variant.

Is CJC-1295 an approved medicine?

It has not been approved by major regulatory agencies for any therapeutic indication. Material sold under this name is typically distributed for laboratory research only. Clinical use is not supported by large controlled trials.

What is known about its half-life?

Early human studies of the albumin-binding form reported circulation half-lives on the order of several days. The value depends on assay method and study design. Estimates for the form without the binding moiety are considerably shorter.

What distinguishes CJC-1295 from natural GHRH?

The synthetic peptide keeps the receptor-binding region of GHRH but carries substitutions that resist enzymatic cleavage. In the DAC version, an added group also anchors the molecule to albumin, extending its presence in the bloodstream.

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