Everything below concerns heptapeptide. We keep the language plain, cite what the science says, and separate well-supported claims from open questions.
Last reviewed on 2025-11-20. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
Development took place during the 1980s at institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where peptide fragments of ACTH were screened for cognitive and neuroprotective effects. The compound received regulatory approval in Russia as a nasal preparation, marketed for conditions such as ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, and optic nerve disorders. Registration in other countries has not followed. Most published clinical reports originate from a small number of Russian research groups, and independent replication outside that setting remains limited. The regulatory status therefore differs sharply between Russia and the rest of the world.
Laboratory work points toward modulation of neurotrophic signaling, particularly expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in hippocampal tissue. Studies also describe effects on monoamine turnover, inflammatory mediators, and oxidative markers. These observations come mainly from animal models and cultured cells, so the causal chain in humans is not firmly established. Whether the reported molecular changes translate into measurable clinical benefit is an open question. Reviews generally present the mechanism as plausible rather than demonstrated.
Clinical evidence consists largely of small trials with modest sample sizes, often without independent replication. Reported endpoints include cognitive scores, recovery after stroke, and visual function, but study designs vary widely and few trials meet contemporary reporting standards. Systematic reviewers have noted a high risk of bias in several of these reports. No large multicenter trial conducted outside Russia has been published. The compound is therefore best described as investigational in most jurisdictions, with its clinical role still unresolved.
Russian regulatory authorities approved the peptide for nasal administration, and it remains listed in the national pharmacopoeia under several trade names. Documented indications include acute ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, traumatic brain injury, and certain ophthalmological and neurological conditions. Physicians also prescribe it for cognitive complaints in older patients, although the evidence base for that use is thinner. Outside Russia and a few neighboring states, the substance is not an approved medicine and is sold instead as a research chemical.
Later generations of the molecule include an N-acetylated form and an amidated form, both marketed online alongside the parent peptide. These variants differ in terminal chemistry and stability, and they are frequently discussed in the same breath even though they have not been compared in controlled trials. Supply outside formal healthcare systems comes largely from laboratories that synthesize peptides to order. Purity and identity of these materials vary widely, and no single body oversees the international trade.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Heptapeptide; ACTH(4-10) analog extended at C-terminus |
| Molecular mass | ~813.9 Da | Free peptide, unmodified |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typical lyophilized solid |
| Solubility | Soluble in water and saline | Also soluble in common aqueous buffers |
| Storage (solid) | -20 °C, desiccated | Protect from moisture and repeated thawing |
Scientific literature on semax is unevenly distributed. A substantial share of published work originates from a small number of laboratories in Russia, while independent replication elsewhere is limited. Human data consist mostly of small trials with short follow-up, and several reported outcomes rely on subjective rating scales. Questions about how much intact peptide reaches the central nervous system after nasal administration, and how long it persists there, are still unresolved. The compound is best described as an active research subject rather than a settled pharmacological agent.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It was derived from the ACTH(4-10) fragment, a short segment of adrenocorticotropic hormone that lacks the hormonal activity associated with the full-length peptide. Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow developed the compound during the 1980s. It has been registered as a pharmaceutical product in Russia and several neighbouring countries, where it is supplied as a nasal solution, and it is also sold internationally as a research chemical.
The proposed mechanism centres on neurotrophic signalling rather than direct receptor activation. Semax is reported to increase expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in several brain regions, and to shift the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter systems. Interaction with melanocortin receptors has been suggested because of the parent ACTH fragment. Many of these findings come from rodent studies, and the extent to which they translate to human physiology remains an open question.
The compound was developed during the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow as part of research on fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Early work examined short ACTH-derived sequences that retained neurotrophic effects while lacking the endocrine activity of the full hormone. Semax entered clinical use in Russia during the 1990s, where it received registration for several neurological indications. Outside that region it remained primarily a laboratory research material rather than an approved therapeutic. English-language literature on it grew more slowly and frequently cited the original Russian studies.
Terminology around the compound varies by source. It appears in catalogues and papers as Semax, as the heptapeptide ACTH(4-7)-Pro-Gly-Pro, and under various alphanumeric laboratory codes used by individual suppliers. These names refer to the same sequence but may imply different salt forms, purity grades, or counter-ions. Peptide databases usually list the free base mass, while product descriptions sometimes report acetate or trifluoroacetate salts with a different formula weight. Because naming conventions for research peptides are not standardised across vendors, checking the declared sequence and measured mass is more reliable than relying on a trade name alone.
各国监管态度分化明显。俄罗斯按处方药管理，部分东欧国家留有使用记录；欧盟与美国未批准其作为药物上市，市面流通品通常标注为研究用化学品。身份差异意味着标示含量、纯度与无菌性缺少统一核查。体育领域还牵涉反兴奋剂名录，跨境携带则受目的地药品法规约束。
Semax 是人工设计的七肽，序列为 Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro，骨架取自促肾上腺皮质激素片段 ACTH(4-10)。它于二十世纪八十年代在苏联的分子遗传学研究机构内合成。设计目标是保留该片段与注意力和记忆相关的活性，同时剔除促皮质激素释放等内分泌作用。此后俄罗斯将其登记为药品并进入临床使用。
=== Alternative splicing === In humans, studies have shown that alternative splicing of the GHR gene can lead to increased rates of proteolysis. For example, a deletion within the mRNA that encodes part of the transmembrane domain of the protein effectively leads to non-translation of the intracellular domain due to the presence of a stop codon. This truncated version of GHR is cleaved more frequently into GHBP and may potentially explain the reasoning behind increased concentrations of GHBP present in some tissues. In mouse and rat models, the extracellular domain is formed primarily through alternative splicing of the precursor GHR mRNA to form a mature transcript that translate GHBP alone. These animals can potentially shed GHBP via post-translational modification as well, although this activity is minimal.
According to his children John and Priscilla Tolkien: In later years, he would occasionally talk of being at the front: of the horrors of the first German gas attack, of the utter exhaustion and ominous quiet after a bombardment, of the whining scream of the shells, and the endless marching, always on foot, through a devastated landscape, sometimes carrying the men's equipment as well as his own to encourage them to keep going. ... Some remarkable relics survive from that time: a trench map he drew himself; pencil-written orders to carry bombs to the 'fighting line'. Many of his dearest school friends were killed in the war. Among their number were Rob Gilson of the Tea Club and Barrovian Society, who was killed on the first day of the Somme while leading his men in the assault on Beaumont Hamel. Fellow T.C.B.S. member Geoffrey Smith was killed during the battle, when a German artillery shell landed on a first-aid post. Tolkien's battalion was almost completely wiped out following his return to England.
[The] mental troubles must have ... a relation with the formation of cellulo-connective groupings, which become more or less fixed. The cellular bodies may remain altogether normal, their cylinders will not have any anatomical alterations; but their multiple liaisons, very variable in normal people, may have arrangements more or less fixed, which will have a relation with persistent ideas and deliria in certain morbid psychic states. For Moniz, "to cure these patients", it was necessary to "destroy the more or less fixed arrangements of cellular connections that exist in the brain, and particularly those which are related to the frontal lobes", thus removing their fixed pathological brain circuits. Moniz believed the brain would functionally adapt to such injury. Unlike the position adopted by Burckhardt, it was unfalsifiable according to the knowledge and technology of the time, as the absence of a known correlation between physical brain pathology and mental illness could not disprove his thesis.
=== Related materials === Dispersed graphene oxide flakes can also be sifted out of the dispersion (as in paper manufacture) and pressed to make an exceedingly strong graphene oxide paper. Graphene oxide has been used in DNA analysis applications. The large planar surface of graphene oxide allows simultaneous quenching of multiple DNA probes labeled with different dyes, providing the detection of multiple DNA targets in the same solution. Further advances in graphene oxide based DNA sensors could result in very inexpensive rapid DNA analysis. Recently a group of researchers, from university of L'Aquila (Italy), discovered new wetting properties of graphene oxide thermally reduced in ultra-high vacuum up to 900 °C. They found a correlation between the surface chemical composition, the surface free energy and its polar and dispersive components, giving a rationale for the wetting properties of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Erik Wolpaw is an American video game writer. He and Chet Faliszek wrote the pioneering video game website Old Man Murray. He subsequently worked for game developers Double Fine Productions and Valve, and is known for his work on video games including Psychonauts (2005), Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006), Portal (2007), Portal 2 (2011) and Half-Life: Alyx (2020).
The G protein's α subunit, together with the bound GTP, can then dissociate from the β and γ subunits to further affect intracellular signaling proteins or target functional proteins directly depending on the α subunit type (Gαs, Gαi/o, Gαq/11, Gα12/13). G protein-coupled receptors are an important drug target and approximately 34% of all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs target 108 members of this family. The global sales volume for these drugs is estimated to be 180 billion US dollars as of 2018. It is estimated that GPCRs are targets for about 50% of drugs currently on the market, mainly due to their involvement in signaling pathways related to many diseases i.e. mental, metabolic including endocrinological disorders, immunological including viral infections, cardiovascular, inflammatory, senses disorders, and cancer. The long ago discovered association between GPCRs and many endogenous and exogenous substances, resulting in e.g. analgesia, is another dynamically developing field of pharmaceutical research.
=== Founding === National Semiconductor was founded in Danbury, Connecticut, by Dr. Bernard J. Rothlein on May 27, 1959, when he and seven colleagues, Edward N. Clarke, Joseph J. Gruber, Milton Schneider, Robert L. Hopkins, Robert L. Koch, Richard R. Rau and Arthur V. Siefert, left their employment at the semiconductor division of Sperry Rand Corporation. The founding of the new company was followed by Sperry Rand filing a lawsuit against National Semiconductor for patent infringement. By 1965, as it was reaching the courts, the preliminaries of the lawsuit had caused the stock value of National to be depressed. The depressed stock values allowed Peter J Sprague to invest heavily in the company with Sprague's family funds. Sprague also relied on further financial backing from a pair of West Coast investment firms and a New York underwriter to take control as the chairman of National Semiconductor. At that time Sprague was 27 years old. Jeffrey S. Young characterized the era as the beginning of venture capitalism. That same year National Semiconductor acquired Molectro. Molectro was founded in 1962 in Santa Clara, California, by J. Nall and D. Spittlehouse, who were formerly employed at Fairchild Semiconductor. The acquisition brought in two experts in linear semiconductor technologies, Robert Widlar and Dave Talbert, who were also formerly employed at Fairchild. The acquisition of Molectro provided National with the technology to launch itself in the fabrication and manufacture of monolithic integrated circuits.
As an oceanic organism, O. vulgaris experiences a temperature variance due to many factors, such as season, geographical location, and depth. For example, octopuses living around Naples may experience a temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) in the summer and 15 °C (59 °F) in the winter. These changes would occur quite gradually, however, and thus would not require any extreme regulation. The common octopus is a poikilothermic, eurythermic ectotherm, meaning that it conforms to the ambient temperature. This implies that no real temperature gradient is seen between the organism and its environment, and the two are quickly equalized. If the octopus swims to a warmer locale, it gains heat from the surrounding water, and if it swims to colder surroundings, it loses heat in a similar fashion. O. vulgaris can apply behavioral changes to manage wide varieties of environmental temperatures. Respiration rate in octopods is temperature-sensitive – respiration increases with temperature. Its oxygen consumption increases when in water temperatures between 16 and 28 °C (61 and 82 °F), reaches a maximum at 28 °C (82 °F), and then begins to drop at 32 °C (90 °F). The optimum temperature for metabolism and oxygen consumption is between 18 and 24 °C (64 and 75 °F). Variations in temperature can also induce a change in hemolymph protein levels along oxygen consumption. As temperature increases, protein concentrations increase in order to accommodate the temperature. Also the cooperativity of hemocyanin increases, but the affinity decreases.
Moscow will gain a branch of the Hermitage Museum in 2024. Authorities have agreed on the final project, which will be executed by Hani Rashid, co-founder of the New York-based firm Asymptote Architecture. This firm handled the stock market building in Moscow, the World Business Center Solomon Tower in Busan, and the Strata Tower in Abu Dhabi.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Semax is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide derived from a fragment of corticotropin. It is used in Russia as a nasal preparation, while elsewhere it is studied as a research compound. It is not approved as a medicine in most countries.
Its sequence corresponds to the 4-10 region of corticotropin extended by three residues. This fragment lacks the region responsible for adrenal steroid release, so it is explored for neural rather than hormonal effects. The relationship explains the compound's classification among ACTH-derived peptides.
It holds approval in Russia for several neurological indications as a nasal spray or drop formulation. Regulatory agencies in the United States and the European Union have not approved it. Products sold elsewhere are generally labeled for research use only.
It originated at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the 1980s. The work was carried out by a Russian research group that specialized in peptide neuropharmacology.