Dermatological Research
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    SNAP-8

    Also known as: SNAP-8 peptide, acetyl octapeptide-3, acetyl glutamyl heptapeptide-3

    Synthetic eight-amino-acid peptide based on part of the nerve protein SNAP-25, made as a cosmetic ingredient. Data come mostly from the manufacturer.

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    Research overview

    SNAP-8 (acetyl octapeptide-3, also listed as acetyl glutamyl heptapeptide-3) is a synthetic eight-amino-acid peptide, Ac-Glu-Glu-Met-Gln-Arg-Arg-Ala-Asp-NH2, made as a cosmetic ingredient. It is a longer version of the cosmetic hexapeptide argireline, with two extra amino acids, and both are based on the start of SNAP-25, a protein in nerve endings. Most data on SNAP-8 itself are the manufacturer's own and are quoted in reviews from its website rather than from peer-reviewed papers (Errante et al., Front Chem 2020). No peer-reviewed study has tested SNAP-8 on its own in people. The published human studies are two company-run trials of microneedle skin patches that held SNAP-8 together with other active ingredients, so no result can be put down to SNAP-8 alone (Shin et al., Ann Dermatol 2024, 24 people). The parent peptide argireline has more published work, including cell studies and a placebo-controlled trial in 60 people, but those results do not automatically apply to SNAP-8. How much SNAP-8 passes through skin, and its long-term safety, are not established. Supplied for laboratory research use only.

    Mechanism of action

    SNAP-8 was designed to mimic the start of SNAP-25, one of the SNARE proteins that nerve endings use to release chemical messengers, and to compete with it when the SNARE complex forms. Manufacturer lab data quoted in a review report lower release of the messenger glutamate from cells, but these data have not been published in a peer-reviewed study. For the related hexapeptide argireline, peer-reviewed cell work showed interference with SNARE complex formation and lower messenger release (Blanes-Mira et al., 2002). Whether enough SNAP-8 reaches nerve endings through skin to act this way has not been shown.

    Research on SNAP-8

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