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Palmitoyl tripeptide-1
A fatty-acid-modified fragment of the same collagen-signalling family as Matrixyl, usually found paired with other peptides rather than sold on its own.
On this page
In brief
Should you care? Only really as part of a blend — this is rarely the headline ingredient on a bottle, and that’s appropriate. It’s one half of Matrixyl 3000 and a structural relative of the GHK fragment, attached to a fatty tail to help it cross the skin barrier.The short version
- What it does: the same signal-peptide job as Matrixyl 3000, of which it is one component.
- Evidence: grade B — mostly studied as part of the branded blend rather than alone.
- What it won't do: outperform the full Matrixyl 3000 blend it’s usually one half of.
What it actually is
Palmitoyl tripeptide-1 is a synthetic peptide fragment with a palmitic acid (fatty acid) tail attached — the same "lipidation" trick used across several cosmetic peptides to help a molecule that is otherwise too large and water-loving to cross the skin barrier effectively. On its own it is one of the two components of the branded blend Matrixyl 3000, alongside palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7.
How it relates to Matrixyl and GHK-Cu
It shares a design logic with copper peptide (GHK-Cu) — both are short peptide fragments doing signalling work related to collagen — but a different specific sequence and a different functional category. GHK-Cu is a carrier peptide built around delivering copper; palmitoyl tripeptide-1 is a signal peptide, the same category as the rest of Matrixyl 3000. See the full breakdown on signal, carrier and neurotransmitter peptides.
What the evidence supports
Most of the published testing on this specific fragment was conducted as part of the combined Matrixyl 3000 blend rather than in isolation, which makes it hard to say precisely how much of that blend’s results — Sederma’s own 45% wrinkle-area figure, or the separate, lower-concentration peer-reviewed depth trial described on the Matrixyl 3000 page — is attributable to this component alone versus its partner peptide.1 In-vitro work on the isolated fragment family does show stimulation of collagen production in fibroblast cultures.2
What it does not do
Claims the evidence does not carry
- Work better alone than as part of Matrixyl 3000. There is no published evidence that isolating it outperforms the tested combination.
- Have its own independently established concentration. Unlike the full Matrixyl 3000 blend, there is no widely cited standalone trial percentage to check a product against.
What to look for
If a product lists "palmitoyl tripeptide-1" on its own rather than as part of Matrixyl 3000, there is less independent basis for judging the right concentration than with the full branded blend. We’d weight a product using the complete Matrixyl 3000 blend at a disclosed 3% more confidently than one listing this single fragment with no percentage.
References
- Sederma technical/marketing literature for the combined Matrixyl 3000 blend (palmitoyl tripeptide-1 / tetrapeptide-7) — see the full citation and caveats on the Matrixyl 3000 page.
- Katayama K, Armendariz-Borunda J, Raghow R, Kang AH, Seyer JM (1993), "A pentapeptide from type I procollagen promotes extracellular matrix production," Journal of Biological Chemistry 268(14):9941–9944. PMID: 8486721.