Hydrolysis
Also known as: hydrolytic degradation
The water-driven breaking of a peptide bond — the main way peptides degrade in solution, and why they are supplied dry.
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which water splits a bond — for a peptide, it cleaves the peptide bond, reversing the condensation that formed it and breaking the chain into fragments.
In the body, enzymes (proteases) accelerate this; in a vial, slow spontaneous hydrolysis by water is a leading cause of degradation. This is precisely why peptides are supplied lyophilised (dry) and, once reconstituted, kept cold and used within a limited window.
RELATED TERMS
Peptide Bond
The covalent amide bond linking amino acids into a peptide chain — the defining structural feature of every peptide.
Lyophilised
Freeze-dried. Peptides are supplied as a lyophilised powder/pellet for stability, then reconstituted before study.
Degradation
The breakdown of a peptide into inactive fragments — by hydrolysis, oxidation or enzymes — reducing purity and potency.
Protease / Proteolysis
Enzymes that cut peptide bonds; proteolysis is the enzymatic breakdown that limits most peptides’ half-life.
Half-Life
The time for a compound’s concentration to fall by half — a key determinant of dosing frequency in research.
Educational content, not medical advice. All products supplied for research purposes only — not for human consumption.