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Study · Animal study (in vivo) · mouse · 2026

12 results

Elamipretide Rejuvenates Oocyte Quality and Restores Female Fertility During Reproductive Aging.

Zhang HL, Wang Y, Wang C, Guo X, Chen H, Hou YX, Wu X, Wu ZJ, Pan WL, Ma RJ, Lu PS, Shu J, Sun SC

Aging cell1 Oct 2026

PMID42827331 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC13633435 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1111/acel.70749 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-42827331
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Summary

Aging represents a major contributor to the deterioration of female fertility, with oocyte quality being the central determinant of ovarian aging, a key factor underlying infertility. Although several natural compounds with anti-aging activity have been documented, highly effective strategies to reverse ovarian aging remain elusive. Here, we report that the peptide elamipretide preserves ovarian function and sustains female fertility during maternal aging. We found that elamipretide administration increases litter size in aged mice and ameliorates oocyte quality decline. Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling revealed substantial restoration of multiple biological processes in aged oocytes after elamipretide injection. Elamipretide improved both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes, accompanied by enhanced cytoskeletal dynamics, mitochondrial metabolism, and organelle reorganization. Mechanistically, elamipretide alleviated age-associated oocyte maturation defects through synergistic activation of the vitamin B6-VEGF axis. Furthermore, elamipretide significantly promoted maturation, fertilization, and cleavage of aged human oocytes. Elamipretide treatment also rescued the developmental competence of porcine oocytes under oxidative damage. Collectively, this study identifies a novel peptide therapeutic candidate for aging-related infertility, showing that elamipretide restores the quality of aged oocytes for fertility by coordinately boosting nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation via activation of the VEGF signaling pathway.
CC BYText from Europe PMC. Highlighted sentences are the source of results.

Results from this study12

12 results from studies that gave the peptide. No result from this study comes from people.

  1. 01AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    In aged mice, elamipretide administration increased litter size.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide increased the number of pups per litter.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseLitter size in aged mice
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged mice
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · injectionAs given in this study (mouse).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    We found that elamipretide administration increases litter size in aged mice and ameliorates oocyte quality decline.
  2. 02AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    In aged mice, elamipretide administration ameliorated the decline in oocyte quality.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide reduced the age-related drop in egg quality.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    DecreaseOocyte quality decline
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged mice
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · injectionAs given in this study (mouse).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    We found that elamipretide administration increases litter size in aged mice and ameliorates oocyte quality decline.
  3. 03AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    Elamipretide improved nuclear maturation of aged oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide improved the maturation of the nucleus in egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseNuclear maturation of aged oocytes
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Elamipretide improved both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes
  4. 04AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    Elamipretide improved cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide improved the maturation of the cell body in egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseCytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Elamipretide improved both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes
  5. 05AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Mechanism

    Elamipretide was accompanied by enhanced cytoskeletal dynamics in aged oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide came with better movement of the inner scaffold of egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseCytoskeletal dynamics in aged oocytes
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Elamipretide improved both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes, accompanied by enhanced cytoskeletal dynamics, mitochondrial metabolism, and organelle reorganization.
  6. 06AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Mechanism

    Elamipretide was accompanied by enhanced mitochondrial metabolism in aged oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide came with better energy metabolism in the mitochondria of egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseMitochondrial metabolism in aged oocytes
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Elamipretide improved both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of aged oocytes, accompanied by enhanced cytoskeletal dynamics, mitochondrial metabolism, and organelle reorganization.
  7. 07AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Mechanism

    Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling showed substantial restoration of multiple biological processes in aged oocytes after elamipretide injection.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, many cell processes in egg cells moved back toward normal after elamipretide injection.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseMetabolomic and transcriptomic restoration of aged oocytes
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling revealed substantial restoration of multiple biological processes in aged oocytes after elamipretide injection.
  8. 08AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Mechanism

    Elamipretide alleviated age-associated oocyte maturation defects through synergistic activation of the vitamin B6-VEGF axis.

    In plain wordsIn aged mice, elamipretide reduced egg cell maturation defects through the vitamin B6-VEGF pathway.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseVitamin B6-VEGF axis activation
    Study

    mousen: not reported in source

    Aged oocytes
    Outcome group
    Receptor activity and mechanism · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Mechanistically, elamipretide alleviated age-associated oocyte maturation defects through synergistic activation of the vitamin B6-VEGF axis.
  9. 09LabEx vivo tissueEfficacy outcome

    Elamipretide significantly promoted maturation of aged human oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn lab tests, elamipretide improved the maturation of aged human egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseMaturation of aged human oocytes
    Study

    humann: not reported in source

    Aged human oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Furthermore, elamipretide significantly promoted maturation
  10. 10LabEx vivo tissueEfficacy outcome

    Elamipretide significantly promoted fertilization of aged human oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn lab tests, elamipretide improved fertilization of aged human egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseFertilization of aged human oocytes
    Study

    humann: not reported in source

    Aged human oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    significantly promoted maturation, fertilization, and cleavage of aged human oocytes.
  11. 11LabEx vivo tissueEfficacy outcome

    Elamipretide significantly promoted cleavage of aged human oocytes.

    In plain wordsIn lab tests, elamipretide improved the first cell divisions after fertilization of aged human egg cells.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseCleavage of aged human oocytes
    Study

    humann: not reported in source

    Aged human oocytes
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    significantly promoted maturation, fertilization, and cleavage of aged human oocytes.
  12. 12LabEx vivo tissueEfficacy outcome

    Elamipretide treatment rescued the developmental competence of porcine oocytes under oxidative damage.

    In plain wordsIn lab tests, elamipretide restored the ability of pig egg cells to develop after oxidative damage.

    Peptide
    Elamipretide (SS-31)
    Outcome
    IncreaseDevelopmental competence of porcine oocytes
    Study

    pign: not reported in source

    Porcine oocytes under oxidative damage
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Reproductive and sexual health
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Elamipretide treatment also rescued the developmental competence of porcine oocytes under oxidative damage.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    10 Oct 2026, 08:19 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:47 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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