ARA-290 (Cibinetide)
ARA-290 (cibinetide) is an 11-amino-acid peptide engineered from the helix B surface of erythropoietin that activates the tissue-protective EPO receptor and CD131 (beta common receptor) complex without stimulating red blood cell production, and the research catalog lists it at https://onesourcepeptides.com/product/ara-290.
The defining finding is a clean split between tissue protection and blood production. Brines et al., PNAS, 2008 (PMID 18676614) mapped erythropoietin's protective activity to helix B and showed that an 11-amino-acid peptide built from its aqueous face was tissue protective in rodent models of ischemic stroke and renal ischemia-reperfusion, accelerated wound healing, and augmented cognitive function, while being non-erythropoietic in vitro and in vivo.
The receptor story has since been tested directly. Wang et al., CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, 2024 (PMID 38488446) used a mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion model and found ARA-290 reduced neuronal apoptosis and brain inflammatory cytokines with a neuroprotective effect qualitatively similar to erythropoietin, and that the protection was significantly suppressed when the beta common receptor was knocked down with siRNA, all without driving erythropoiesis.
Repair and metabolic readouts point the same direction. Bitto et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Molecular Basis of Disease, 2018 (PMID 29223734) reported that cibinetide improved re-epithelialization, angiogenesis, VEGF, phospho-Akt and phospho-eNOS signaling, and wound breaking strength in an incisional wound model in genetically diabetic db/db mice. Muller et al., Molecular Medicine, 2016 (PMID 26736179) found that four weeks of ARA-290 in type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats lowered plasma glucose, cut HbA1c by about 20%, and enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through better islet glucose metabolism and calcium handling, with hematocrit unchanged.
Lot identity and purity belong on the certificate of analysis for the vial in hand. See Are research peptides third-party tested?. ARA-290 on the catalog is laboratory research supply only. This note summarizes published cell and animal research and is not dosing, reconstitution, or human-use guidance.