PeptiGrowth Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Jun Minamitani) has successfully developed a novel synthetic peptide called “PDGF-AA alternative peptide (PDGFRα agonist)” which is functionally equivalent to recombinant Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AA. This product will be on the market beginning July 2026.

Comparable signal activation activity to recombinant PDGF-AA
We conducted a comparative study on the functions of PDGF-AA alternative peptide (PG-014) and commercially available recombinant PDGF-AA using PDGFRα-overexpressing Ba/F3 cells. We confirmed that the PDGF-AA alternative peptide exhibited PDGFRα phosphorylation (Figure 2), and proliferation in PDGFRα-overexpressing Ba/F3 cells (Figure 3) in a manner similar to recombinant PDGF-AA at lower concentrations (ng/mL basis).

Differentiation from Neural progenitor cells(NPCs) to Astrocytes
As a further functional evaluation of PG-014, we compared the activities of PG-014 and PDGF-AA during the differentiation process from NPCs to astrocytes via immature glial-restricted progenitor cells (iGRPs) (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Schematic of the Astrocyte Differentiation

PG-014 demonstrated comparable performance to PDGF-AA in terms of cell proliferation up to the iGRP stage, iGRP surface marker expression, and astrocyte surface marker expression, confirming that PG-014 can serve as an alternative to PDGF-AA (Figures 5 and 6).

Figure 5. Cell Proliferation of iGRPs*

Figure 6. Evaluation of the Differentiation Activity toward iGRPs and Astrocytes*

We anticipate that the PDGF-AA alternative peptide (PG-014) will be applicable in regenerative medicine and cell therapy, particularly in applications such as promoting the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and capillary endothelial cells, as well as inducing the differentiation of neural progenitor cells into astrocytes or oligodendrocytes.