Tissue Repair & Regeneration

Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9

When the scaffolding inside skin breaks down, some of the fragments are not debris but signals, and the cells read them. Acetyl tetrapeptide-9, sold to formulators as Dermican, is a synthetic copy of one such fragment of lumican, and in the laboratory it prompts fibroblasts to make more lumican and more type I collagen. That mechanism is the argument for putting it in products aimed at thicker, denser skin. Every human study on file tested it inside a multi-ingredient formulation — a randomised trial of a post-laser skincare product, an open study of a ten-peptide serum — so no result here separates the peptide from what it was mixed with.

Last updated 12 August 2026

Studied forDermal density research · Collagen organisation support · Skin firmness research

Evidence on file1 randomised human trial · 1 human observational study · 1 human case report or series · 1 computational study · 1 citation not yet graded

Strongest sourceEnhanced Postablative Laser Skin Healing with a Regenerative Skincare Formulation: a Comparative Randomized E… (randomised human trial)

Mechanism

Mimics the lumican matrikine at fibroblasts, raising lumican and type I collagen synthesis and collagen fibre assembly.

Reported effects

What sources associate with this compound. Reported categories, not outcomes we have graded — each would need its own citation and rung.

Dermal density research
Collagen organisation support
Skin firmness research

Manufacturer’s claim vendor marketing

For a proprietary cosmetic ingredient the manufacturer is the originator — there is no upstream to defer to, and this is often the only description that exists. It is reproduced as an attributed claim, with the label its source gave it. It is not graded and it is not evidence — the graded studies are under Literature.

Vendor claim (ci.guide): "stimulates the skin's natural regenerative mechanisms"; "skin is thicker and firmer after four months of treatment" (clinical study referenced, n= not stated on fetched page).

Manufacturer: BASF Personal Care (Laboratoires Serobiologiques heritage; per ULProspector listing title and carecreations.basf.us product URL)
Sold as: Dermican (Dermican PW LS 9838 / Dermican LS 9837)

Source page — nofollow, because a vendor link is a reference here, not an endorsement.

Dosing on file unverified

0.9-3% Dermican™ (350 ppm active); 0.1% cream

Carried from a source that labels it unverified, and reproduced with that label attached. A record of what is reported, not a recommendation. No citation on this page establishes it.

Literature on file 6

human observational
An Open-Label Study to Assess the Efficacy and Tolerability of a Multifunctional, 10-Peptide Face and Neck Serum to Address Skin Quality. graded on: indexed as a clinical trial, design not stated — “Clinical Trial”
review or editorial
Peptides: Emerging Candidates for the Prevention and Treatment of Skin Senescence: A Review. graded on: indexed as "review-article" - secondary literature, not a study — “review-article”
human RCT
Enhanced Postablative Laser Skin Healing with a Regenerative Skincare Formulation: a Comparative Randomized Evaluator-Blinded Clinical Study. graded on: a randomised study — “Randomized Evaluator-Blinded Clinical Study”
computational
A framework for the safety evaluation of peptides in cosmetics. graded on: in-silico safety framework applied through six bioinformatic tools — read from the abstract — “abstract review”
human case series
Real World Case Series: Integrated Skincare With Advanced RGN-6 Serum. graded on: a case report or series — “Case Series”

Not graded

1 citation whose study design could not be read from the title. Left ungraded rather than guessed at.

not graded
MANUFACTURER_DATA_ONLY

Identity

Space-filling 3D model of Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9, carbon grey, nitrogen blue, oxygen red — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

2D chemical structure of Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9 — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

Molecular weight: 539.5
Molecular formula: C22H33N7O9
CAS number: 928006-50-2
PubChem CID: 11606295
InChI key: QNZANUZIBYJBIN-XSWJXKHESA-N
SMILES: CC(C)[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CC1=CN=CN1)C(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CC(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CCC(=O)N)NC(=O)C
InChI: InChI=1S/C22H33N7O9/c1-10(2)18(21(36)28-15(22(37)38)6-12-8-24-9-25-12)29-20(35)14(7-17(32)33)27-19(34)13(26-11(3)30)4-5-16(23)31/h8-10,13-15,18H,4-7H2,1-3H3,(H2,23,31)(H,24,25)(H,26,30)(H,27,34)(H,28,36)(H,29,35)(H,32,33)(H,37,38)/t13-,14-,15-,18-/m0/s1

Also called

Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9
Dermican

Notes unverified prose

8-week DB RCT (n=17, 45-55): skin elasticity +32%, wrinkle depth -19%; 16-week study: skin thickening & firming; Double-blind controlled study: 32% elasticity, 19% wrinkle reduction at 8 weeks

Not on file 2

1 of the 8 fields we track hold nothing on this record, and each says why. 1 further absence is named below. A blank field is a bug; a named absence is a finding.

amino-acid sequencenothing we hold supplies it
half-lifenothing we hold supplies it

Each field links to every other record missing the same thing. The full ledger holds 765 gaps across 163 records.

At a glance

Strongest rung: human RCT
Citations: 6
Regulatory: Cosmetic ingredient
Route: Topical
Declared gaps: 2

Citations by rung

Strongest wins, never an average.