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AMPK pathway activator · exercise mimetic research compound
Research documentation
Ask sales for the AICAR batch COA and the analytical evidence needed to qualify the material for your study. Confirm the available purity and identity records, lot continuity, handling information, and method requirements before ordering.
Overview
AICAR is a purine nucleoside analog (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside / AICA-riboside), also called Acadesine. Once inside the cell it is phosphorylated to the ribonucleotide ZMP, which imitates AMP and thereby switches on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the master energy-sensor kinase triggered by falling ATP. Investigated since the 1990s across energy-metabolism, muscle-physiology, and exercise-mimetic research, it was among the earliest candidates proposed as a pharmacological stand-in for endurance training, because sustained AMPK activation reproduces gene-expression shifts resembling those of endurance exercise. Development advanced to Phase 3 for several cardioprotection indications without gaining approval, and the compound endures as a standard tool for interrogating the AMPK pathway. Lyochem supplies AICAR as the free base to a ≥99.0% HPLC purity specification. Being a small molecule rather than a peptide, its identity and purity are established by RP-HPLC with UV-Vis detection on the batch COA; water content is available on request and listed on the COA when tested. The two larger fills, 50 mg and 100 mg, are sized for the cell-culture and in vivo AMPK-activation studies that commonly consume greater absolute amounts of material than peptide experiments require.
Applications & buyer fit
Mitochondrial-targeted peptides — MOTS-c, SS-31 / Elamipretide — and the mitochondrial-targeting small-molecule reagents (NAD+, AICAR, 5-Amino-1MQ, SLU-PP-332) ship to research labs studying OXPHOS, ROS biology, sirtuin-mediated deacetylation, and mitochondrial dysfunction in disease models. The lipophilic / cationic character that drives mitochondrial accumulation also makes some peptides oxidation-prone in solution; working stocks should be prepared fresh or held at −80 °C when the workflow permits.
Academic Laboratories
Universities, medical schools, and government research institutes qualifying a reference standard for a method-development or in vivo workflow.
Every lot has its own batch-specific CoA — HPLC purity and MS identity, plus any analytical scope agreed at quote stage — tied to the exact lot you receive.
Review a representative batch CoA before you order, so you can confirm the packet matches what your method or sponsor audit needs.
Supplied strictly as a research reagent to research institutions — not a finished dosage form and not for human administration. Buyer qualification runs at the inquiry stage.
Specifications
Documentation available on request
Regulatory note
Sold for Research Use Only under the receiving laboratory's institutional and jurisdictional regulations. Not a finished dosage form and not labelled for human administration. Working stocks of cationic mitochondrial peptides (SS-31 in particular) should be prepared fresh or held at −80 °C when the workflow permits.
Selected literature
Frequently asked questions
As a defined nucleoside/nucleotide rather than a peptide, AICAR is well suited to RP-HPLC with UV detection, since its aromatic imidazole-carboxamide chromophore gives a strong signal for resolving the main peak from process-related impurities and reporting chemical purity. ESI-MS confirms the molecular mass and helps distinguish the intended form from related species, and NMR can corroborate structure and detect residual solvents where required. Karl Fischer water content matters here because the millimolar working concentrations mean weighing errors scale up quickly; a corrected weight based on measured purity and water keeps stated stock molarity accurate for AMPK-activation assays.
AICAR is dosed far higher than typical peptides because it must be taken up and converted to ZMP intracellularly, so stock preparation should account for solubility at these concentrations and use freshly prepared working solutions to avoid precipitation artifacts that would skew the delivered dose. Confirm the qualified lot by RP-HPLC and ESI-MS before it serves as a comparison standard, and record the COA lot in the protocol so cellular and in vivo results trace to one characterized batch. Because fill sizes are in the tens of milligrams, gravimetric accuracy and documented water content are the main levers on dosing precision.