Copper Peptides in Skincare: What GHK-Cu May Do for Collagen and Wrinkles

In a small study, women smoothed a serum containing GHK-Cu, a copper peptide, onto one side of their face and a serum without it onto the other. The GHK-Cu serum also held the peptide in a tiny fat-based carrier, which the comparison serum lacked. By the end, wrinkle depth and volume had improved more on the GHK-Cu side.²

Copper peptides pair copper with short chains of amino acids, the small molecules that also make up proteins. GHK-Cu is one used in skincare, studied for its effects on collagen and on how skin renews its supporting tissue.^{1, 2} In lab studies, it prompts the cells that make collagen to make more and changes how they break down existing proteins.^{1, 5} Getting it into skin is the hard part, which makes the split-face result an encouraging early sign.

What GHK-Cu is

GHK-Cu starts as GHK, a chain of three amino acids: glycine, histidine and lysine. When GHK binds a copper ion, an electrically charged form of copper, it becomes GHK-Cu, which ingredient lists call Copper Tripeptide-1.³

Because it holds on to copper, GHK-Cu is often called a "carrier peptide." It can also act as a signal that changes what cells do, so "carrier" describes only one of its two roles.^{1, 4} An introduction to peptides in skincare explains how the roles overlap.

How GHK-Cu may help skin renew its support

GHK-Cu may help skin keep up its collagen, the protein that gives skin its strength and support. In a lab study, fibroblasts, the cells that make collagen, produced more of it when exposed to GHK-Cu.¹

Renewal also means clearing out old proteins, and GHK-Cu seems to affect the clearing-out too. Enzymes break existing proteins down, while other proteins control how active the enzymes are. In a second lab study of fibroblasts, GHK-Cu increased both a breakdown enzyme and proteins that restrain enzymes like it.⁵ Picture a renovation crew getting more demolition tools and more supervisors at the same time.

Getting GHK-Cu into skin

In a lab dish, GHK-Cu sits right against fibroblasts, but on your face it first meets skin's outer barrier, where lipids (fat-like substances) help limit what passes through. GHK-Cu dissolves easily in water, so it has a hard time getting through a barrier rich in lipids.⁶ Think of a drop of water beading on a waxed surface. In a lab test on intact human skin, almost no peptide or copper made it all the way through the sample.⁷

Formulators can build a delivery system around GHK-Cu, and the split-face serum used one, holding the peptide inside tiny lipid-based carriers designed to help it enter skin.² So the carrier peptide sometimes needs a carrier of its own. The guide to choosing and using a peptide serum covers the practical questions a finished product raises.

GHK-Cu after laser treatment

A small study tested copper-peptide skincare on skin recovering from carbon dioxide laser resurfacing. Adding GHK-Cu made no clear extra improvement in measured redness, wrinkles or overall skin quality, though the people using it reported being more satisfied.⁸

Why GHK-Cu is worth a closer look

GHK-Cu holds on to copper, prompts fibroblasts to make more collagen in lab studies, and changes how they break down existing proteins. In people, wrinkles improved more on the side of the face that got a GHK-Cu serum in its carrier. It's early research, and it's encouraging, which is a good reason to look twice when Copper Tripeptide-1 turns up on a label.

Sources

1. Maquart FX, et al. Stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblast cultures by the tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+. FEBS Letters, 1988.
2. Badenhorst T, et al. Effects of GHK-Cu on MMP and TIMP Expression, Collagen and Elastin Production, and Facial Wrinkle Parameters. Journal of Aging Science, 2016.
3. Cosmetic Ingredient Review. Safety Assessment of Tripeptide-1, Hexapeptide-12, their Metal Salts and Fatty Acyl Derivatives, and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 as Used in Cosmetics. Final report, 2014.
4. Bossak-Ahmad K, et al. Ternary Cu(II) Complex with GHK Peptide and Cis-Urocanic Acid as a Potential Physiologically Functional Copper Chelate. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020.
5. Siméon A, et al. The tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+ stimulates matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression by fibroblast cultures. Life Sciences, 2000.
6. Badenhorst T, et al. Physicochemical characterization of native glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine tripeptide for wound healing and anti-aging: a preformulation study for dermal delivery. Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 2016.
7. Li H, et al. Microneedle-Mediated Delivery of Copper Peptide Through Skin. Pharmaceutical Research, 2015.
8. Miller TR, et al. Effects of topical copper tripeptide complex on CO2 laser-resurfaced skin. Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, 2006.