Experimental pain-research peptide (YGFHRWDF)
A lab-made 8-amino-acid peptide designed to act on pain-related receptors; used only as a research tool.
A researcher, an agent, or an algorithm wrote down the sequence and picked a target to hit.
An AI model like OpenFold3 or AlphaFold built a 3D structure and scored how well it fits the binding site.
A second contributor repeated the computation on their own hardware and the scores matched.
A chemistry service or a researcher ordered the sequence, it was manufactured, and mass spectrometry confirmed the right molecule was produced.
A binding or activity measurement confirmed that it actually does what the computer predicted — or didn't.
What this is
This is a designed 8-amino-acid peptide (sequence YGFHRWDF) catalogued in ChEMBL as CHEMBL1172251, drawn from a medicinal-chemistry program that built multifunctional ligands targeting opioid, cholecystokinin, and melanocortin receptors as candidate pain therapeutics (Lee 2010). It is not an endogenous hormone and not a marketed drug — it is a research-stage SAR compound. On this platform it is linked to two receptor targets: the cholecystokinin A receptor (CCKAR, also called CCK-1R) and the delta-opioid receptor (OPRD1).
What it does
In published bioassay, the compound was characterized as a CCKAR ligand with a reported binding affinity of Ki = 1400 nM (ChEMBL CHEMBL1172251). That affinity is weak by modern standards — single-digit-micromolar — so the molecule is best understood as an early SAR data point on the path toward multifunctional analgesic leads (Lee 2010), not as a high-potency tool compound. No human pharmacology has been reported for this specific sequence.
Evidence
- Human: No human studies of this peptide.
- Animal: No in vivo data reported in the dossier sources for this specific 8-mer.
- In vitro: Receptor binding affinity Ki = 1400 nM at CCKAR (ChEMBL CHEMBL1172251). Designed in the context of a trivalent-ligand program targeting opioid, cholecystokinin, and melanocortin receptors for pain (Lee 2010).
Related peptides
- Cholecystokinin (CCK-8 family) — the endogenous CCKAR/CCK-1R agonist whose receptor this designed peptide engages.
▸full evidence table1 metrics
| metric | value | tool |
|---|---|---|
| Ki | 1400 nM | GPCRDB/ChEMBL |
▸structural qualityopenfold3
| metric | value | note |
|---|---|---|
| gpde | 0.910 | global PDE — lower = better |
| disorder | NaN | fraction disordered |
▸3-letter notation
▸recipeboltz-2 1.0
| parameter | value |
|---|---|
| model | boltz-2 1.0 |
| weights | — |
| hardware | nvidia_nim_api |
| mlx version | — |
| python | — |
| random seed | — |
| msa strategy | none |
| diffusion samples | 1 |
| runtime | — |
| predicted by | mlx@peptide |
| predicted at | 2026-04-24 |
▸citationbibtex
@peptide{pep10306,
sequence = {YGFHRWDF},
target = {cckar},
author = {peptidemodel},
year = {2026},
status = {bioassayed}
}