What this 5-Amino-1MQ research overview covers
Procurement tickets for 5-Amino-1MQ research compound arrive with a predictable mix-up: buyers treat the SKU like a short peptide because it lives in a peptide catalog. It is not a peptide. 5-Amino-1MQ is the storefront name for 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide, a small-molecule quaternary salt studied as an inhibitor of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT). This page is a research-identifier and laboratory-application brief. It does not provide dosing, injection, cycles, or personal-use mixing instructions.
The questions we hear from receiving desks are ordinary and specific. What is the CAS number? Why does a lot COA look more like a small-molecule HPLC file than a 39-residue peptide chromatogram? How does the compound sit next to MOTS-c and NAD+ on a metabolic-pathway order? Why do some vendors print “peptide” on a carton that contains a quinolinium iodide? Those are documentation problems. Treat them that way.
Search traffic for “what is 5-amino-1mq” and “5 amino 1mq” often lands on wellness summaries that collapse mouse-model observations into consumer claims. That is not how we write catalog education. Sponsor-adjacent and academic papers investigated NNMT pharmacology in biochemical assays, cultured adipocytes, and diet-induced obese mice. Those publications identify a tool compound and a target. They do not convert a research vial into a drug product, and they do not tell a bench team how to store or dissolve powder for an assay. Your institution’s chemical-hygiene plan and written method own those steps.
If you need the use boundary in writing for a purchasing file, read Research Use Only peptides explained. If you need the broader buyer’s-guide view of RUO as a product category, see the root-level RUO peptides page. Identifier collisions (catalog nicknames versus CAS) are covered in catalog names, CAS, and peptide identifiers. Everything below assumes institutional laboratory context.
5-amino-1-methylquinolinium structure and CAS 42464-96-0
The parent heterocycle is quinoline: a fused benzene–pyridine system. 5-Amino-1MQ places a primary amine on carbon 5 of that ring and a methyl group on the ring nitrogen, producing a permanently charged 1-methylquinolinium cation. The commercial research salt is typically the iodide, which is why lot files and vendor tables list 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide rather than a free-base amine. The Chemical Abstracts Service registry number used across our catalog and most English-language vendor files is CAS 42464-96-0.
That charge state is not decoration. A quaternary quinolinium cannot lose the N-methyl group by simple proton transfer the way a tertiary amine can. Membrane-permeability studies in the Neelakantan series treated that charged scaffold as a design feature: small enough and lipophilic enough to cross membranes in the assay systems they used, while still occupying the nicotinamide-binding site of NNMT. When you write a methods line, record the salt (iodide) and the CAS. “5-Amino-1MQ” alone is a nickname.
Molecular-weight lines on vendor cards commonly sit near 286 g/mol for the iodide salt (cation plus iodide). Confirm the exact figure on the lot specification rather than copying a blog table. Formula strings vary in how they write the ion pair (C10H11N2I versus C10H11N2+ · I−). Either form can be correct if the file is internally consistent. A mismatch between the formula, the named salt, and the observed mass on an LC-MS identity check is a stop-and-ask event, not a rounding issue.
Appearance is usually an off-white to colored powder rather than a classic lyophilized peptide cake. Color can shift with residual solvent, particle size, and light history. Record what you see at intake next to the lot ID the same way you would for any other high-value small molecule. Visual grading without paperwork is how labs invent quality stories that the chromatogram later refuses to support.
Because the compound is not a peptide, amino-acid analysis, deletion-sequence maps, and “net peptide content” language do not apply. If a seller’s COA template still prints those peptide fields, that is a paperwork smell. Ask for the method that was actually run: typically reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection plus a mass or NMR identity check appropriate to a small heterocyclic salt.
Why 5-Amino-1MQ is not a peptide
A peptide is a defined sequence of amino acids joined by amide bonds, usually made by solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) and released with a characteristic impurity pattern: deletion sequences, incompletely deprotected residues, aspartimide, oxidation at Met or Trp, and leftover trifluoroacetate. 5-Amino-1MQ has none of that biology. It is a single heterocyclic cation plus a counterion. Treating it as “a short peptide” in a LIMS dropdown is an identity error waiting for the next audit.
The mix-up is commercial, not chemical. Research catalogs that grew up around lyophilized peptides now also stock small-molecule metabolic tools because the same laboratories order both in one purchasing cycle. NAD+ is a dinucleotide coenzyme. AICAR is an AMP analog. 5-Amino-1MQ is a quinolinium NNMT inhibitor. Sharing a storefront does not make them peptides. Our product card states the class in plain language for that reason.
Handling SOPs should follow the class. Peptide labs often default to −20 °C lyophilized-cake rules, short humid opens, and bacteriostatic-water folklore copied from internet threads. For a small-molecule iodide salt, follow the lot storage line and your chemical-hygiene plan for organic powders. If the lot file says protect from light and moisture, do that. Do not invent a reconstitution “cycle” because neighboring SKUs are peptides.
Analytical expectations differ too. A ≥99% HPLC line on a peptide COA is an area-percent claim under a peptide method. A ≥99% HPLC line on a 5-Amino-1MQ file is still an area-percent claim, but the column, gradient, and detection wavelength were chosen for a small, UV-active heterocycle. Do not average those percentages across compound classes in a single trend chart. Method-bound numbers stay inside their method.
Nextday Peptides sells Research Use Only material. Catalog adjacency is a procurement convenience. It is not a chemical classification, and it is not permission for human or veterinary use.
- No amino-acid sequence and no SPPS deletion-impurity story
- CAS 42464-96-0 identifies the quinolinium iodide, not a peptide fragment
- COA templates that print “net peptide content” for this SKU need a second look
- Store and dissolve under small-molecule SOPs, not peptide-internet recipes
- Keep the nickname, the IUPAC-style name, and the CAS together in the notebook
NNMT inhibitor mechanism in published laboratory models
Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT, EC 2.1.1.1) is a cytosolic enzyme that transfers a methyl group from S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) to nicotinamide, producing 1-methylnicotinamide (1-MNA) and S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH). That reaction sits at a junction between NAD+ salvage and the cellular methylation budget. Pissios’s 2017 review framed NNMT as more than a vitamin B3 clearance enzyme: expression changes in adipose, liver, and some tumor models alter SAM/SAH ratios and nicotinamide availability for NAD+ synthesis.
Ulanovskaya, Zuhl, and Cravatt showed in Nature Chemical Biology (2013) that NNMT can act as a metabolic methylation sink in cancer-cell models, consuming SAM and thereby remodeling histone methylation. Kraus and colleagues reported in Nature (2014) that NNMT knockdown in mice protected against diet-induced obesity in the experimental systems they used. Those genetic and chemical-biology papers are why medicinal chemists went looking for membrane-permeable small-molecule inhibitors. They are not a warrant for any reader to “inhibit NNMT” outside a laboratory protocol.
Neelakantan, Wang, Vance, Hommel, McHardy, and Watowich mapped structure–activity relationships for N-methylated quinolinium, isoquinolinium, and related cations in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2017). Quinolinium analogs, including 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium, occupied the nicotinamide-binding site in docking models and showed low-micromolar NNMT inhibition in the biochemical assay they described (on the order of 1 µM IC50 for the 5-amino analog under those conditions). Selectivity checks in that series asked whether the same compounds inhibited other SAM-dependent methyltransferases or NAD+ salvage enzymes. Record the assay conditions if you cite the number; IC50 is method-bound.
The companion Biochemical Pharmacology paper (published online 2017; print 2018) tested membrane-permeable methylquinolinium NNMT inhibitors in permeability assays, cultured adipocytes, and diet-induced obese mice. In adipocytes, the authors reported lower intracellular 1-MNA, higher NAD+ and SAM, and reduced lipogenesis under the concentrations and time points they used. In high-fat-diet mice, systemic administration of a potent analog in that series was reported to reduce body weight and white-adipose mass without a change in measured food intake in that study. Those are preclinical observations in defined models. They are not health, weight-loss, or anti-aging claims for people, and they are not instructions for any non-laboratory use.
When a PI asks “what does it do?”, the accurate one-sentence answer for a methods meeting is: it is a small-molecule NNMT inhibitor used as a research tool to perturb nicotinamide methylation and the connected NAD+/SAM pools in vitro or in approved animal protocols. Anything that sounds like a consumer outcome belongs in a different industry.
Laboratory applications for 5-Amino-1MQ research compound
The legitimate laboratory uses we see on purchase-order justifications are narrow and technical. Enzyme-activity assays: recombinant or lysate NNMT reactions monitored by 1-MNA formation, SAH detection, or a coupled fluorescent readout, with the quinolinium as a tool inhibitor. Cell-culture metabolic panels: adipocyte, hepatocyte, or tumor-line models where investigators want to ask how NNMT inhibition changes NAD+ metabolites, SAM/SAH, or lipid accumulation under a written protocol. Analytical method development: labs building an HPLC or LC-MS method for the cation itself, or for 1-MNA as a pathway marker.
Pathway mapping is the other common reason. NNMT sits next to NAMPT-dependent NAD+ salvage. A lab that already stocks NAD+ as a coenzyme standard may add 5-Amino-1MQ when the question is “what happens if nicotinamide methylation is blocked in this model?” That is a mechanistic question. It is not a stacking narrative. Keep the two materials in separately labeled boxes so a night-shift colleague cannot swap a dinucleotide for a quinolinium because both bags said “metabolic.”
Mitochondrial-encoded peptide work is adjacent, not identical. Lee and colleagues described MOTS-c in Cell Metabolism (2015) as a mitochondrial-derived peptide investigated for metabolic-homeostasis phenotypes in preclinical models. Kim and colleagues later reported nuclear translocation of MOTS-c under metabolic stress. Those papers justify why some groups order MOTS-c research peptide in the same cycle as an NNMT inhibitor. They do not make 5-Amino-1MQ a peptide, and they do not make MOTS-c an NNMT inhibitor. File each lot against its own identity method.
Blended SKUs exist because purchasing desks prefer one vial for a defined panel. The MitoPrime 5-Amino-1MQ / MOTS-c / NAD+ blend is a catalog convenience for laboratories that already run those three reagents in parallel. A blend COA is not a substitute for understanding each component’s class. If your protocol is sequence- or CAS-critical, prefer standalone lots and spike them under your own method.
What we do not treat as a laboratory application: consumer “fat-loss” protocols, gym-bag storage, clinic-drawer inventory, or any reconstitution recipe aimed at a person. If the intended use is not institutional research, this page is the wrong resource.
How 5-Amino-1MQ compares with MOTS-c, NAD+, and other metabolic tools
Labs build metabolic panels the way they build kinase panels: one target, several orthogonal tools, lots filed separately. The table below is a receiving aid for people who order these SKUs together. It is not a pharmacology ranking and not a suggestion to combine materials outside a written protocol.
AICAR appears on the same purchase orders when AMPK-pathway models are in scope. SS-31 (elamipretide) appears when mitochondrial-membrane questions are in scope. Neither shares a mechanism with 5-Amino-1MQ. Catalog proximity is not pathway identity. If a student writes “mitochondrial stack” on a freezer label, rewrite the label with compound names and lots before the next inventory.
| Catalog name | Chemical class | Typical research question | Identifier to file | Peptide? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-Amino-1MQ | Quinolinium iodide; NNMT inhibitor | Nicotinamide methylation / NAD+ salvage perturbation | CAS 42464-96-0 plus lot COA | No |
| MOTS-c | Mitochondrial-encoded 16-aa peptide | Nuclear and metabolic-stress models (Lee 2015 and follow-on work) | Sequence plus lot identity (MS/HPLC) | Yes |
| NAD+ | Dinucleotide coenzyme (β-NAD) | Cofactor standard or pathway supplement in cell-free / culture assays | Chemical name plus lot assay | No |
| AICAR | AMP analog / ZMP precursor | AMPK-pathway tool in approved models | CAS / catalog code plus lot file | No |
| SS-31 (elamipretide) | Mitochondria-targeted tetrapeptide | Inner-membrane / cardiolipin research models | Sequence plus lot identity | Yes |
When a blend SKU is on the order, ask whether the PDF covers the blend or each component. Ambiguous blend paperwork is a clarification request, not a reason to invent a combined purity number. Standalone 5-Amino-1MQ lots remain the cleaner audit trail when a protocol is CAS-critical.
Lot documentation and COA fields for 5-Amino-1MQ
File the same core fields you file for any research reagent, then add the class-specific ones. Product or chemical name, CAS 42464-96-0, batch or lot string that matches the vial, appearance, HPLC purity under a stated method, identity method (MS, retention-time match to a reference, or NMR when provided), test date, and the issuing lab or vendor name. Download the PDF from the COA Library before the bottle enters a shared study freezer.
Copy the purity string exactly, including any ≥ sign. Do not “clean up” 99.2% to 99% in a spreadsheet. Note detection wavelength when the file prints it; quinolinium chromophores are not peptides, and a 214 nm peptide method is not automatically the method on this COA. If the file is silent on method, ask for the summary rather than assuming last year’s peptide gradient applies.
Identity is a separate line from purity. A clean main peak still needs a name. For a small cation, electrospray MS of the quinolinium ion is the usual identity check we see on vendor files. If the observed m/z does not match the expected cation, stop. Do not average it with a neighboring lot. Request the correct file from orders@nextdaypeptides.com with the order number and a label photo.
Water, residual solvent, and iodide assay are optional panels on lean research COAs. If your institutional SOP requires Karl Fischer or residual-solvent data for small-molecule powders, put that requirement in the purchase specification instead of hoping a peptide-style template includes them. Specifications are buyer-defined for RUO reagents; they are not implied by a storefront HPLC banner.
Keep RUO labeling intact if you transfer powder into a lab-owned secondary bottle. An unlabeled scintillation vial of yellow powder is how a later HPLC surprise becomes un-investigable. Photograph the original label at receiving before frost or solvent stains obscure characters.
- Match purchase order, packing list, vial lot, and COA header before any freezer placement
- Name the PDF with the lot string, not with the storefront nickname alone
- Record CAS 42464-96-0 in the LIMS so synonym searches still hit the record
- Flag COAs that still print peptide-only fields for this SKU
- Quarantine lot mismatches until purchasing or QA clears them
Receiving and laboratory storage notes (not personal handling)
Storage success starts at the door. Confirm outer-package integrity and that the shipping label matches the purchase order. Match vial name, fill amount, and lot to the packing list. Assign a storage location (freezer or cabinet ID / box / rack) in the notebook or LIMS. Note arrival condition — intact, warm, damaged — with date and receiver initials. If a package arrives damaged or opened, photograph everything and contact orders@nextdaypeptides.com within the window in our returns policy.
Follow the temperature range on the lot paperwork. Many research powders, this one included, are held cold and dry until the lab prepares assay solutions under its own SOP. That range outranks a generic peptide-storage meme. Moisture and light still matter for a hygroscopic organic salt. Keep stoppers seated. Limit humid opens. Return the vial to labeled storage on a timer if your building runs wet air.
Nextday Peptides fulfills from U.S. warehouses in Florida, North Carolina, and California. Same-day processing targets orders placed before 3:30 PM Eastern, Monday–Saturday, after payment clears — details live in the shipping and delivery policy. Transit is not a validated pharmaceutical cold chain for every SKU. Plan receiving so vials move into institutional storage promptly. Friday boxes that sit on a loading dock until Monday are a planning problem, not a chemistry mystery.
Once powder is in solution, stability becomes solvent-, concentration-, and container-dependent. Institutional protocols define solvents (often aqueous buffers or DMSO stocks for small-molecule work), aliquot size, and hold conditions for working solutions. Follow your written method. We do not publish consumer-style mixing guides, calculators, or personal-use recipes. Label each aliquot with compound, lot, concentration as prepared for the assay, solvent, date, and owner.
Separate dry 5-Amino-1MQ stock from peptide boxes when your SOP allows. Shared −20 °C space is where labels peel and someone else’s project absorbs your last vial. Project-coded boxes and a simple last-vial reorder trigger prevent the “we thought it was MOTS-c” failure mode. For general dry-powder habits that overlap with lyophilized peptides, the lyophilized peptide storage article is the physical-handling companion; this page remains the compound-identity brief.
Ordering 5-Amino-1MQ versus the MitoPrime blend
Standalone 5-Amino-1MQ is the right SKU when the protocol names CAS 42464-96-0, when you need a single-component concentration for a standard curve, or when QA wants one lot identity per notebook line. Browse it from the products catalog the same way you would any other small-molecule reagent: intended use first, then identifiers, then fill size.
The MitoPrime blend is the right SKU when a written panel already combines the NNMT tool, MOTS-c, and NAD+ and the lab accepts blend-level documentation. Do not treat the blend as a hidden dose of any one component. Do not back-calculate a “personal protocol” from the fill size. Fill sizes are inventory presentations for research material.
If you also run mitochondrial-encoded or AMPK-adjacent models, order MOTS-c, NAD+, and AICAR as separate lines when the methods section will cite them separately. Reviewers who see a blend lot number next to a MOTS-c sequence citation will ask questions you can avoid with standalone lots.
Price and fill size only become comparable after class and documentation match. A cheaper vial labeled “5-amino” without a CAS, without a lot string, or with a peptide-template COA that never mentions a quinolinium ion is not a bargain. Identifier hygiene is cheaper than a failed week of assays.
Search myths about what 5-Amino-1MQ is
Myth: it is a peptide because peptide vendors sell it. Reality: catalogs are merchandising systems. Chemical class is defined by structure. Write the structure class on the purchase order so the next purchaser inherits the fact.
Myth: a mouse-model body-weight result is a consumer claim. Reality: Neelakantan’s Biochemical Pharmacology paper investigated diet-induced obese mice under a defined dosing regimen in that study. Describing what investigators reported is literature literacy. Copying it into a personal plan is outside Research Use Only and outside this site.
Myth: higher HPLC percentage means the vial is closer to a medicine. Reality: HPLC area-percent is a method-bound quality attribute of a research reagent. It does not change the use lane. See the purity-evaluation article on this site when you need that distinction in writing.
Myth: “near me” pickup or home-refrigerator storage is a receiving option. Reality: this catalog is Research Use Only for laboratory destinations. We do not frame consumer pickup. If your work is not laboratory research, do not order this material.
Myth: MitoPrime is “the same thing, stronger.” Reality: it is a three-component research blend. Each component has its own identity problem. Stronger is not a laboratory word we use for blends.
Bottom line for lab buyers asking what 5-Amino-1MQ is
5-Amino-1MQ is 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide, CAS 42464-96-0, a small-molecule NNMT inhibitor used as a research tool around nicotinamide methylation and NAD+ salvage models. It is not a peptide. File the CAS, the salt, the lot, and the COA. Keep it physically separate from peptide inventory. Read published mouse and cell data as preclinical literature, not as a use guide.
Nextday Peptides supplies RUO materials for that laboratory lane. Documentation after delivery is shared work: we ship and post lot files; your lab owns the method, the freezer, and the notebook. If you take only one operational upgrade from this page, make it a written identity habit that survives staff turnover: nickname plus CAS plus lot on every label.
When colleagues paste a wellness summary into Slack, point them at the primary papers and at this identifier brief. The compound is interesting because NNMT sits at a real metabolic junction. That is a reason to do careful experiments. It is not a reason to blur research reagents with personal use. Nextday Peptides sells Research Use Only material not for human or veterinary use.