If you have been reading about ACTH analog and want a single page that covers the useful parts, this is it: definitions, context, how it is studied, and the questions that come up repeatedly.
Last reviewed on 2025-11-01. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide developed in the Soviet Union during the 1980s by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow. It was designed as a truncated analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone, retaining only the fragment spanning residues four through ten. Investigators sought a peptide that would preserve the cognitive effects associated with ACTH while eliminating the hormonal stimulation of the adrenal cortex. The compound entered clinical use in Russia during the following decade.
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.
Lyophilized material is chemically stable for extended periods when kept dry, cold, and protected from light. The powder is hygroscopic, so vials should be warmed to room temperature before opening to reduce condensation on the contents. Once dissolved, the peptide is far less stable because peptide bonds are susceptible to hydrolysis and the methionine residue can oxidize. Solutions are typically aliquoted and held at 2-8 °C for short intervals or frozen for longer ones, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles should be avoided.
Routine characterization relies on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography to establish purity and on mass spectrometry to confirm molecular identity. Electrospray ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization are both used for mass verification. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping can detect sequence errors. Common impurities include truncated sequences, methionine sulfoxide formed by oxidation, and deamidated products. Chromatograms are usually recorded near 214 nm, where the peptide backbone absorbs, and purity is reported as the percentage area of the principal peak.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analog of an ACTH fragment |
| Amino acid length | Seven residues | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro |
| Origin | Moscow, 1980s | Institute of Molecular Genetics |
| Approved regions | Russia and some neighboring states | Not cleared in Western markets |
| Common trade names | Multiple national brands | Sold as a nasal formulation |
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. The first four residues correspond to the ACTH(4-10) fragment, while the terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension was added to improve metabolic stability. Its molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 813.9 Da. The compound is classified as a peptide research chemical and as a registered pharmaceutical product in Russia, but it does not hold marketing approval in the European Union or the United States. Naming conventions vary across supplier catalogs.
Development of the compound took place in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, largely through peptide research groups affiliated with the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute and Moscow State University. Investigators screened fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone for activity on the central nervous system while attempting to separate cognitive effects from hormonal ones. The shortened sequence was selected because it retained behavioral activity in animal models without stimulating corticosteroid release. Early publications described the molecule as an ACTH(4-10) analog.
Stability depends heavily on physical state. Lyophilized powder held dry, cold and dark retains its content over long periods, whereas dissolved peptide begins to change within days at room temperature. The most cited degradation route is oxidation of the methionine residue, which converts the peptide to a sulfoxide form that elutes differently on chromatography. Hydrolysis of amide bonds and adsorption onto container walls contribute smaller losses. Buffers that exclude oxygen from the headspace slow the oxidation pathway, but no single condition prevents all change indefinitely.
Practical handling follows from those properties. Bulk material is best divided into single-use portions soon after receipt, because each thaw exposes the whole container to moisture and temperature cycling. Vials should be allowed to reach room temperature before opening to prevent condensation on the powder. Low-binding plasticware reduces loss of dilute solutions, and sterile filtration is used when a preparation must remain free of microbial growth. Records of batch number, reconstitution date and storage history are what allow a later analytical result to be interpreted meaningfully.
=== Valve === Faliszek's and Wolpaw's writings led to them being hired by Valve circa 2005. Along with Wolpaw and Marc Laidlaw, Faliszek helped to create the storylines for the Half-Life and Portal series, along with having personally written the story for Left 4 Dead. He was also involved with Valve's work in virtual reality (VR) through the HTC Vive. In May 2017, Faliszek announced that after twelve years with Valve, he had left the company earlier in the year to work on unannounced projects.
According to the procedure described in the 1975 Aron patent, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Encyclopedia, equimolar amounts of dimethylamine and 2-cyanoguanidine are dissolved in cold toluene to make a concentrated solution, and an equimolar amount of hydrogen chloride is slowly added. The mixture begins to boil, and after cooling, metformin hydrochloride precipitates with a 96% yield. Excess addition of hydrogen chloride results in the formation of the more soluble metformin dichloride salt, a recently reported impurity.
Contrary to popular belief, nicotine itself does not cause cancer in humans, although it is unclear whether it functions as a tumor promoter as of 2012. A 2018 report by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes, "[w]hile it is biologically plausible that nicotine can act as a tumor promoter, the existing body of evidence indicates this is unlikely to translate into increased risk of human cancer." Although nicotine is classified as a non-carcinogenic substance, it can still theoretically promote tumor growth and metastasis as evidenced from alterations. Nicotine induces several processes, some of them via nicotine's effects on immune function, that contribute to cancer progression in both smoking-related and non-smoking-related cancers, including cell cycle progression, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and evasion of apoptosis. These effects are primarily mediated through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), particularly the α7 subtype, and to a lesser extent, β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs). Activation of these receptors triggers several signaling cascades crucial in cancer biology, notably the MAPK/ERK pathway, PI3K/AKT pathway, and JAK-STAT signaling. Nicotine potentially promotes lung cancer development by enhancing proliferation, angiogenesis, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) via nAChRs, which are present in lung cancer cells. Additionally, nicotine-induced EMT contributes to drug resistance in cancer cells.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
8 January – ITV1 broadcasts a 95-minute interview with Prince Harry ahead of the release of his memoirs, Spare. 10 January The UK government publishes the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill 2023, designed to require public sector organisations to provide a minimum service when their unions vote to strike. Prince Harry's controversial memoir Spare is released, becoming "the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time" on the date of its release. 11 January – Andrew Bridgen has the whip suspended by the Conservative Party after he spread misinformation about COVID-19 and compared vaccination to the Holocaust. 12 January – Heavy rain and strong winds cause floods and travel disruption in parts of the UK, with over 60 flood warnings issued in England, 19 in Wales and 2 in Scotland. 13 January Figures indicate the UK economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in November 2022, potentially avoiding a long recession. Medical experts criticise the BBC for an interview with Aseem Malhotra who claims that mRNA vaccines may have been responsible for thousands of excess deaths. Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy is cleared on six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against four young women, but faces a retrial on two counts the jury could not reach verdicts on. COVID-19 in the UK: The latest Office for National Statistics data indicates COVID-19 cases were falling in England and Wales in the week up to 30 December 2022, with cases continuing to increase in Scotland; the picture was unclear for Northern Ireland.
=== Liquid chromatography === Similar to gas chromatography, liquid chromatography is used to separate molecules before detection; however, LC has a liquid mobile phase. After growing modern microbes that synthesize tetrahymanol, many of the biomolecules are too polar to separate on GC, so LC is used to characterize the abundance of different lipids. There are two main types of LC: normal and reversed phase. In the former, the stationary phase is polar and the mobile phase becomes increasingly non-polar as the separation proceeds. Reversed phase chromatography is the inverse of this set up, non-polar stationary phase with polar mobile phase.
Progerin expression also leads to defects in the establishment of fibroblast cell polarity, which is also seen in physiological aging. To date, over 1,400 SNPs in the LMNA gene are known. They can manifest as changes in mRNA, splicing, or protein amino acid sequence (e.g. Arg471Cys, Arg482Gln, Arg527Leu, Arg527Cys, and Ala529Val). Progerin may also play a role in normal human aging, since its production is activated in typical senescent cells. Unlike other "accelerated aging diseases", such as Werner syndrome, Cockayne syndrome, or xeroderma pigmentosum, progeria may not be directly caused by defective DNA repair. These diseases each cause changes in a few specific aspects of aging but never in every aspect at once, so they are often called "segmental progerias". A 2003 report in Nature said that progeria may be a de novo dominant trait. It develops during cell division in a newly conceived zygote or in the gametes of one of the parents. It is caused by mutations in the LMNA (lamin A protein) gene on chromosome 1; the mutated form of lamin A is commonly known as progerin. One of the authors, Leslie Gordon, was a physician who did not know anything about progeria until her own son, Sam, was diagnosed at 22 months. Gordon and her husband, pediatrician Scott Berns, founded the Progeria Research Foundation.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Conjugation via thiol group === Another process of creating immunoliposomes is by using a thiol group and creating a thioether bond. The sulfhydryl group is a key player can is found in cysteine bridges on proteins and reagents like Traut's reagents, SATA, and Sulfo-LC-SPDP. The reduction or hydrolysis of these groups generates thiol groups that create antibody conjugation to lipids. There are multiple methods of this process, and one uses the crosslinking agent SATA as shown in Figure 3. The ester end of SATA reacts with amino groups in proteins to form an amide link and a molecule with a protected sulfhydryl group. In order to continue the reaction, this group must be freed which is done by adding hydroxylamine. The following step is to add a chemical that can be an anchor between the lipid and the thiol group. Some examples of molecules that are capable of being this anchor are maleimide, iodoacetyl groups or 2-pyridyldithiol groups. Ultimately, these steps create an antibody-enzyme conjugate that has been formulated using a thiol group.
== Nomenclature == Ortho: variously known as 1,2-diethenylbenzene, 1,2-divinylbenzene, o-vinylstyrene, o-divinylbenzene Meta: known as 1,3-diethenylbenzene, 1,3-divinylbenzene, m-vinylstyrene, m-divinylbenzene Para: known as 1,4-diethenylbenzene, 1,4-divinylbenzene, p-vinylstyrene, p-divinylbenzene. These compounds are systematically called diethenylbenzene, although this nomenclature is rarely encountered.
Official website of UK Bat Conservation Trust Tree of Life Archived 26 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine Microbat Vision Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine Analyses of several kinds of bat echolocation
Hafezi F, Marti A, Munz K, Remé CE Early events in light-induced apoptosis of photoreceptors and pigment epithelium of rats in vivo, in Les Seminaires ophthalmologiques Ipsen. 1997, Editions Irvinn: Paris. 13–17. 14. Reme CE, Weller M, Szczesny P, Munz K, Hafezi F, Reinboth JJ, Clausen M Light-induced apoptosis in the rat retina in vivo: morphological features, threshold and time course, in Degenerative diseases of the retina, Anderson RE, LaVail MM, Hollyfield JG, Editors. 1995, Plenum Press: New York. 19–25.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
It is registered as a medicine in Russia and has been used clinically there for decades. No regulatory agency in Western Europe or North America has approved it for any indication.
Semax corresponds to the four-to-ten fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Because it omits the first three residues, it lacks the adrenal-stimulating action of the full hormone.
Dry powder is normally held at -20 °C or lower, away from light and moisture. Sealed vials can also be kept at 2-8 °C for shorter intervals. Warming to room temperature before opening prevents condensation.