This is a working overview of ACTH(4-10), written for readers who want more than a one-paragraph summary but less than a textbook.
This page was last updated on 2026-03-18 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Identity and purity of semax are established with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet detection, usually at 214 nanometres. Mass spectrometry, most often electrospray ionisation in positive mode, confirms the molecular mass and reveals truncated sequences. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping after enzymatic digestion provide additional structural confirmation. Laboratories typically report purity as the percentage area of the main peak, a figure that does not capture isomeric or oxidised variants unless the method resolves them.
The peptide is prone to several degradation pathways. Oxidation of the methionine residue produces a sulfoxide that elutes close to the parent peak in many chromatographic systems. Hydrolysis of peptide bonds and deamidation of susceptible residues in related sequences also reduce purity over time. Lyophilised material kept dry at minus twenty degrees Celsius and shielded from light is the most stable form commonly described in laboratory practice.
Semax is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide whose sequence extends the ACTH(4-10) fragment with a C-terminal proline-glycine-proline tripeptide. The commonly cited sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro, giving a molecular formula near C37H51N9O10S and a molecular weight close to 813.9 g/mol. It belongs to the broader class of synthetic ACTH fragments studied for central nervous system effects rather than for adrenal steroid stimulation. In practice the material appears as a lyophilized white powder for laboratory work or as a dilute saline solution in clinical settings.
Development is attributed to researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow during the early 1980s, building on earlier Soviet work with ACTH fragments. Russian regulatory approval followed for intranasal use, and the compound has remained commercially available there for decades. Most published human data originate from Russian and, later, some Eastern European clinical reports, which are not always accessible in English translation. Outside that region the material is generally handled as a research chemical rather than a licensed medicine.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilised solid |
| Solubility class | Freely soluble in water | Also dissolves in aqueous buffers |
| Typical storage temperature | -20 °C | Dry, desiccated, protected from light |
| Typical analytical method | RP-HPLC with UV detection | Often paired with LC-MS |
| Water content | Reported as Karl Fischer value | Freeze-dried material is hygroscopic |
Published studies are dominated by animal models of stroke, ischemia, and cognitive impairment, with a smaller number of human trials conducted in Russia. Many of the human reports are small, single-center, and published in Russian-language journals, which limits independent scrutiny. Outcome measures vary between studies and often rely on clinician-rated scales rather than objective biomarkers. Systematic reviews have noted the methodological weaknesses and called for larger, preregistered trials before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Claims about enhanced focus, memory, or mood in healthy people rest mostly on anecdotal reports and community discussion rather than on controlled data. It remains unclear whether any cognitive benefit observed in patients recovering from brain injury would extend to uninjured users. Dose-response relationships, long-term safety, and interactions with other drugs are not well characterized in the peer-reviewed literature. Questions about optimal route of administration and treatment duration likewise remain open.
The compound was developed in the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow, where it emerged from research on short ACTH fragments and their effects on the central nervous system. Russian pharmaceutical listings describe it as a nootropic and neuroprotective agent, most often formulated as nasal drops. It is not a marketed medicine in the United States or the European Union, and no pharmacopoeial monograph covers it. Consequently, most published clinical experience with the substance originates from a small number of research centres, mainly in Russia and neighbouring countries.
Pharmacological accounts link semax to melanocortin signalling and to modulation of neurotrophic factor expression, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor. Much of this evidence comes from rodent studies using intranasal delivery, a route chosen because it allows peptides to reach the central nervous system with limited systemic exposure. Whether the same mechanisms operate in humans at comparable magnitude remains an open question. The precise receptor or receptors responsible for the reported behavioural and neuroprotective effects have not been conclusively identified.
Clinical reports describe use in ischaemic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, optic nerve conditions, and cognitive complaints, but most of these studies are small and were conducted in a single region. Systematic reviews have generally described the evidence base as limited in size and variable in methodological quality. Randomised controlled data suitable for international regulatory assessment are scarce. As a result, major treatment guidelines outside Russia do not include the peptide, and interest in it remains largely research-driven rather than routine clinical.
Antoine Parmentier tried to make alcohol and beer from the potato, having learned that in other countries it was being distilled, but he admitted his failure in 1773. Two years before, the Encyclopédie Méthodique reported that potato eau de vie was well known to the Swedes and other Europeans. Five methods are listed in 1839, in the Dictionnaire technologique:
Alfred Russel Wallace's 1879 book Australasia, Ian Todd's 1974 book Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama and Dean Kohlhoff's 2002 book Amchitka and the Bomb: Nuclear Testing in Alaska all associate the Aleutian Islands with the Oceania region due to their status as remote islands in the Pacific. The islands, having biogeographical and ethnocultural affinities to North America, are not ordinarily considered a part of the region.
== Higher order multifunctionality == In the case of the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), in addition to the large number of alternate functions it has also been observed that it can be involved in the same function by multiple means (multifunctionality within multifunctionality). For example, in its role in maintenance of cellular iron homeostasis GAPDH can function to import or extrude iron from cells. Moreover, in case of its iron import activities it can traffic into cells holo-transferrin as well as the related molecule lactoferrin by multiple pathways.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
In fact neon is the most electronegative element, but the Pauling scale cannot measure its electronegativity because it does not form covalent bonds with most elements. An element's electronegativity varies with the identity and number of the atoms it is bonded to, as well as how many electrons it has already lost: an atom becomes more electronegative when it has lost more electrons. This sometimes makes a large difference: lead in the +2 oxidation state has electronegativity 1.87 on the Pauling scale, while lead in the +4 oxidation state has electronegativity 2.33.
=== Unhappy marriage and divorce === Unhappily married couples suffer 3–25 times the risk of developing clinical depression, leading to divorce. Studies found that divorce and separation increases chances of an individual encountering depression, anxiety, substance abuse issues, insomnia, and financial hardship. Divorce and unhappy married couples not only affect the mental health of both the parents, but particularly the children of a separated home. Children of divorced parents engage in early sexual behavior, academic difficulties, substance abuse, depressive moods, and an increased chance of living in poverty due to family instability.
The Hippocratic Oath for physicians, attributed to fifth century BC Greece, refers to the existence of "deadly drugs", and ancient Greek physicians imported drugs from Egypt and elsewhere. The pharmacopoeia De materia medica, written between 50 and 70 CE by the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, was widely read for more than 1,500 years.
Entry clones must be made using the supplied "Donor" vectors containing a Gateway cassette flanked by attP sites. The Gateway cassette contains a bacterial suicide gene (e.g. ccdB) that will allow for survival and selection of successfully recombined entry clones. A pair of attB sites are added to flank the DNA fragment of interest, and this will allow recombination with the attP sites when the BP clonase mix is added. Entry clones are produced, and the fragment of interest is flanked by attL sites. The destination vector also comes with a Gateway cassette, but is instead flanked by a pair of attR sites. Mixing this destination plasmid with the entry clones and the LR clonase mix will allow for recombination to occur between the attR and attL sites. A destination clone is produced, with the fragment of interest successfully inserted. The lethal gene is inserted into the original vector, and bacteria transformed with this plasmid will die. The desired vector can thus be easily selected. The earliest iterations of the Gateway cloning method only allowed for only one entry clone to be used for each destination clone produced. However, further research revealed that four more orthogonal att sequences could be generated, allowing for the assembly of up to four different DNA fragments, and this process is now known as the Multisite Gateway technology. Besides Gateway cloning, non-commercial methods using other integrases have also been developed.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Assessments == A December 2024 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans thought Biden's presidency was below average or poor, 26% average, and 19% above average or outstanding. Gallup found that Americans largely offered negative assessments of Biden's presidency on economic, national, and international issues. Of 18 issue areas Gallup tracked, a majority of Americans said the U.S. lost ground in six, including the economy in general, immigration, and the country's position in the world. A plurality found that the U.S. declined in six other areas, including national infrastructure and energy, education, and trade relations with other countries. A plurality felt the U.S. made progress in only one indicator under Biden: the conditions of gay, lesbian, and transgender people. When Biden left office in 2025, journalists and many Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure due to age and health concerns, public frustration over inflation, and Harris's loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election. The Guardian called the conclusion of Biden's presidency a "tragedy".
The original antipsychotic drugs were happened upon largely by chance and then tested for their effectiveness. The first, chlorpromazine, was developed as a surgical anesthetic. It was first used on psychiatric patients because of its powerful calming effect; at the time it was regarded as a non-permanent "pharmacological lobotomy". Lobotomy at the time was used to treat many behavioral disorders, including psychosis, although its effect was to markedly reduce behavior and mental functioning of all types. However, chlorpromazine proved to reduce the effects of psychosis in a more effective and specific manner than lobotomy, even though it was known to be capable of causing severe sedation. The underlying neurochemistry involved has since been studied in detail, and subsequent antipsychotic drugs have been developed by rational drug design. The discovery of chlorpromazine's psychoactive effects in 1952 led to further research that resulted in the development of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and the majority of other drugs now used in the management of psychiatric conditions. In 1952, Henri Laborit described chlorpromazine only as inducing indifference towards what was happening around them in nonpsychotic, nonmanic patients, and Jean Delay and Pierre Deniker described it as controlling manic or psychotic agitation. The former claimed to have discovered a treatment for agitation in anyone, and the latter team claimed to have discovered a treatment for psychotic illness.
It was found to be teratogenic in mice and rats and fetolethal in rabbits. These effects were seen at doses lower than those used in humans. The LD50 of thiotepa via oral administration is 38 mg/kg in mice and 2,3 mg/kg in rats. For intravenous and intra-arterial injection in rats, the LD50 values are 9,5 mg/kg and 8,8 mg/kg, respectively. Women and men of childbearing potential have to use effective contraception during treatment. A pregnancy test should be performed before treatment is started. Men should not father a child during and a year after cessation of treatment. There is no data on the administration of thiotepa during pregnancy, But as in-vivo animal experiments showed teratogenic effects the use of thiotepa during pregnancy is contraindicated. It is not known whether thiotepa is excreted in human breast milk, but due to its high lipophilicity, this cannot be ruled out. Due to its pharmacological properties and potential for toxicity in newborns/infants breast feeding is contraindicated during treatment with thiotepa.
== Function == In eubacteria, there are three groups of factors that promote protein synthesis: initiation factors, elongation factors and termination factors. The elongation phase of translation is promoted by three universal elongation factors, EF-Tu, EF-Ts, and EF-G. EF-P was discovered in 1975 by Glick and Ganoza, as a factor that increased the yield of peptide bond formation between initiator fMet-tRNA(fMet) and a mimic of aa-tRNA, puromycin (Pmn). The low yield of product formation in absence of EF-P can be described by the loss of peptidyl-tRNA from the stalled ribosome. Thus, EF-P is not a necessary component of minimal in vitro translation system, however, the absence of EF-P can limit translation rate, increase antibiotic sensitivity, and slow growth. To complete its function, EF-P enters paused ribosomes through the E-site and facilitates peptide bond formation through interactions with the P-site tRNA. EF-P and eIF-5A both are essential for the synthesis of a subset of proteins containing proline stretches in all cells. It has been suggested that after binding of the initiator tRNA to the P/I site, it is correctly positioned to the P site by binding of EF-P to the E site. Additionally, EF-P has been shown to assist in efficient translation of three or more consecutive proline residues.
Note that the ion strength of either C+ or A− in the mobile phase can be adjusted to shift the equilibrium position, thus retention time. The ion chromatogram shows a typical chromatogram obtained with an anion exchange column.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is the standard method, with detection in the ultraviolet range. Peak area percentage yields a purity figure for the main component. Mass spectrometry is normally run alongside to confirm molecular identity.
Dry lyophilised powder is generally kept at minus twenty degrees Celsius, protected from light and moisture. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided because they encourage aggregation and moisture uptake. Solutions are less stable than the solid form and degrade faster at room temperature.
A certificate documents what the supplier measured, not what an independent party confirmed. Methods, instruments and acceptance criteria can differ between suppliers. Third-party testing is the usual way to resolve discrepancies.
It is a short synthetic peptide built from seven amino acids: methionine, glutamic acid, histidine, phenylalanine and three prolines. The sequence derives from the 4-10 fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone with an added proline-glycine-proline tail. No plant or animal extract is involved; the material is produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis.