Adipotide (FTPP)

Weight Loss & Metabolic

Adipotide, also called FTPP (fat-targeted proapoptotic peptide), is a synthetic peptidomimetic built from two linked parts. The first part, the sequence CKGGRAKDC, homes in on prohibitin, a protein found on the surface of the blood vessel cells that supply white fat tissue. The second part, the pro-apoptotic sequence D-(KLAKLAK)2, gets inside those cells and disrupts their mitochondrial membranes, which triggers programmed cell death (apoptosis). With its blood supply cut off, the fat tissue shrinks and is reabsorbed. Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center first described the approach in obese mice in 2004 (Kolonin et al., Nature Medicine), reporting about 30% weight loss along with better insulin sensitivity. A 2011 study in obese rhesus monkeys (Barnhart et al., Science Translational Medicine) found that 28 days of daily dosing cut body weight by about 11% and waist size noticeably, and improved insulin resistance. The same study reported dose-dependent, mostly reversible kidney damage (proximal tubule injury) and dehydration, since prohibitin is also present in the kidney. Those kidney findings were the main reason development stopped after an early human trial in prostate cancer. Today it is studied in laboratories as a tool for exploring fat-tissue blood vessels, vascular targeting, and the biology of obesity.

For laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary consumption. Figures above are summaries of published research, not guidance or expected results.