The short version of synthetic heptapeptide fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2026-02-13. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
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.
Published studies examine a fairly narrow set of endpoints. Rodent experiments commonly measure maze learning, infarct volume after induced ischemia, and tissue levels of neurotrophic factors. Clinical reports from Russian centres describe attention, memory and recovery scores in patients after stroke or transient ischemic attack. Most of those human studies are small and few have been repeated by independent groups. Outcome measures differ between studies, which limits direct comparison.
Circulation time for the peptide is short because peptidases cleave it readily. The Pro-Gly-Pro tail is thought to slow breakdown compared with the bare ACTH fragment, but the gain appears modest. Absorption after intranasal dosing is limited, and only a fraction of a dose is expected to reach the central nervous system. Laboratory concentrations therefore sit well above levels achieved systemically, a gap that complicates translation from bench findings to clinical claims.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S | Seven-residue peptide |
| Molecular mass | 813.9 Da | Monoisotopic value |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilized form |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Also soluble in saline and polar solvents |
| Storage (dry) | -20 °C or lower | Desiccated, protected from light |
Regulatory status differs sharply between jurisdictions. In Russia the peptide is registered as a prescription nasal preparation, while agencies such as the United States Food and Drug Administration have not approved it for any indication. Products sold elsewhere are typically labeled for laboratory research only, and such labels shift responsibility for safe handling to the purchaser. Because the same name covers pharmaceutical-grade nasal drops and bulk research powder, identity and purity documentation becomes the main practical concern when comparing sources.
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.
Common degradation pathways include oxidation of the methionine side chain, hydrolysis of the peptide backbone, and aggregation under unfavourable pH or concentration. Stability studies typically monitor the main peak by chromatography and report total related substances as a percentage. Because no official monograph exists, acceptance criteria vary between laboratories, and reported purity values are not directly comparable across suppliers. Analysts therefore document the method, column, and detection wavelength alongside each result, and open questions remain about how much biological activity the oxidised forms retain.
Solid semax is typically supplied as a lyophilised powder that is hygroscopic and sensitive to moisture, light, and repeated temperature cycling. Long-term storage of the dry peptide is generally recommended at approximately -20 degrees Celsius, while shorter working periods may use refrigeration at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. Vials should remain tightly closed and desiccated when brought to room temperature, because condensation can damage the material before it is weighed. Dividing a batch into aliquots is preferable to thawing one container repeatedly.
== Awards and honors == 2003: USC Renaissance Scholar 2003: USC Chemistry Alumni Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research 2006: Student Travel Award for Australian Peptide Society 2008: Poster Prize, Science at the Interface (University of Chicago) 2010: Collier Award, Gordon Conference, Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity 2012: Vallee Foundation Travel Award 2013: Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award 2013: Young Chemical Biologist Award, International Chemical Biology Society 2013: Sontag Distinguished Scientist Award 2014: NSF CAREER Award 2015: Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry 2015: Novartis Early Career Award in Organic Chemistry 2016: Amgen Young Investigator Award 2018: Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry 2021: Rao Makineni Lectureship, American Peptide Society Source:
=== Pharmacokinetics === Little information thus far has been published on the clinical pharmacokinetics of phenibut. The drug is reported to be well-absorbed. It distributes widely throughout the body and across the blood–brain barrier. Approximately 0.1% of an administered dose of phenibut reportedly penetrates into the brain, with this said to occur to a much greater extent in young people and the elderly. Following a single 250 mg dose in healthy volunteers, its elimination half-life was approximately 5.3 hours and the drug was largely (63%) excreted in the urine unchanged. Some limited information has been described on the pharmacokinetics of phenibut in recreational users taking much higher doses (e.g., 1–3 grams) than typical clinical doses. In these individuals, the onset of action of phenibut has been reported to be 2 to 4 hours orally and 20 to 30 minutes rectally, the peak effects are described as occurring 4 to 6 hours following oral ingestion, and the total duration for the oral route has been reported to be 15 to 24 hours (or about 3 to 5 terminal half-lives).
=== Legal status === On 28 January 2021, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Byfavo, intended for procedural sedation. The applicant for this medicinal product is PAION Netherlands B.V. Remimazolam (Byfavo) was approved for medical use in the European Union in March 2021.
These drugs are non-selective serotonin receptor agonists like serotonin and are serotonergic psychedelics due to activation of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. α-Methylserotonin is well-studied in preclinical research, but is not known to have been tested in humans.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
In 2010, Tim Hortons opened two kiosks at Consol Energy Center (now known as PPG Paints Arena) in Pittsburgh, partly as a test to eventual expansion into Pittsburgh (their closest locations at that point were in the Wheeling, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio, area) as well as Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby having a longtime sponsorship with the chain as well. In addition, Horton played for the Maple Leafs American Hockey League affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets, earlier in his career as well as the Penguins for one season in 1971 to 1972. Aramark, which operated the kiosks, closed them in 2012, however Tim Hortons proceeded to open full-service locations in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas in July 2012. At the time of the entry into Pittsburgh, of the four NHL cities Horton played in (Buffalo, New York City, Toronto, and Pittsburgh), Pittsburgh was the only one without a Tim Hortons location, and was also where Horton met his future wife, Lori. In 2011, Tim Hortons aggressively expanded into the Grand Rapids, Michigan, region. In 2012, Tim Hortons began advertising in the Youngstown, Ohio, area in anticipation of an eventual expansion into the Mahoning Valley. The closest location at the time was in Calcutta, Ohio, about 50 miles south of Youngstown. The chain entered the area in July 2012 with the opening of a location in Hermitage, Pennsylvania.
Trump's second term foreign policy has been described as a mixture of both imperialist and expansionist policies. He engaged in a realist and isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda. His administration favored hard power to achieve foreign policy goals, and dismantled or withdrew support from domestic and international organizations dedicated to advancing American soft power. The moves were described as ceding American global influence and creating a void filled by Russia and China. His relations with allies were transactional and ranged from indifference to hostility, and he threatened them with economic tariffs or annexation. He was described as taking the side of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and overseeing a rupture of the post-1945 rules-based liberal international order and abandonment of multilateralism. Michael Klare wrote that containing the influence of China and preventing the rise of any rival power is the central foreign policy objective of the administration. Trump has attempted to deepen the U.S.-India partnership. Trump's administration saw large drops in global public opinion of the U.S. Countries like Canada, Germany, the U.K., Denmark, and Finland warned their citizens about traveling to the U.S.
=== Co-attraction === Co-attraction between collectively migrating cells is the process by which cells of the same type secrete chemo-attractant (e.g. C3a in neural crest cells), that stimulates other cells in the group that have the receptors to that chemo-attractant. Cells sense the secreted substrate and respond to the stimulation by moving towards each other's and maintain high cell density.
== History == Native American cultivators who first domesticated corn (maize) prepared it by nixtamalization, in which the grain is treated with a solution of alkali such as lime. Nixtamalization makes the niacin nutritionally available and prevents pellagra. When maize was cultivated worldwide, and eaten as a staple without nixtamalization, pellagra became common. Pellagra was first described for its dermatological effect in Spain in 1735 by Gaspar Casal. He explained that the disease causes dermatitis in exposed skin areas such as hands, feet, and neck and that the origin of the disease is poor diet and atmospheric influences. His work published in 1762 by his friend Juan Sevillano was titled Historia Natural y Medicina del Principado de Asturias or Natural and Medical History of the Principality of Asturias (1762). This led to the disease being known as "Asturian leprosy", and it is recognized as the first modern pathological description of a syndrome. It was an endemic disease in northern Italy, where it was named, from Lombard, by Francesco Frapolli of Milan (see #Etymology). With pellagra affecting over 100,000 people in Italy by the 1880s, debates raged as to how to classify the disease (as a form of scurvy, elephantiasis, or as something new) and over its causation. In the 19th century, Roussel started a campaign in France to restrict consumption of maize and eradicated the disease in France, but it remained endemic in many rural areas of Europe.
Until the collapse of the federal government in 1991, the organisational and administrative structure of Somalia's healthcare sector was overseen by the Ministry of Health. Regional medical officials enjoyed some authority, but healthcare was largely centralised. The socialist government of former President of Somalia Siad Barre had put an end to private medical practice in 1972. Much of the national budget was devoted to military expenditure, leaving few resources for healthcare, among other services. Somalia's public healthcare system was largely destroyed during the ensuing civil war. As with other previously nationalised sectors, informal providers have filled the vacuum and replaced the former government monopoly over healthcare, with access to facilities witnessing a significant increase. Many new healthcare centres, clinics, hospitals and pharmacies have in the process been established through home-grown Somali initiatives. The cost of medical consultations and treatment in these facilities is low, at US$5.72 per visit in health centres (with a population coverage of 95%), and US$1.89–3.97 per outpatient visit and US$7.83–13.95 per bed day in primary through tertiary hospitals. Comparing the 2005–2010 period with the half-decade just prior to the outbreak of the conflict (1985–1990), life expectancy actually increased from an average of 47 years for men and women to 48.2 years for men and 51 years for women.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Canada === Although White Castle has never opened any restaurants in Canada, Canadians have been able to purchase White Castle hamburgers from the frozen foods section in select Canadian grocery and convenience stores since 2015 and more recently at Walmart. For the production of the 2004 film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a full-size outlet was built in Caledon, Ontario, but it was never commissioned or opened to the local public. The store later reopened as Yuppie's Burger, only to go quickly bankrupt. The site was subsequently converted to an Ultramar gas station.
==== United Kingdom ==== All drugs in the 2C family are Class A under the Misuse of Drugs Act which means they are illegal to produce, supply or possess. Possession carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment while supply is punishable by life imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
Bont possesses no superhuman abilities, but he occasionally used Mutant Growth Hormone, a substance that temporarily enhanced his speed and strength and caused his eyes to emit a green glow. Sigourney Weaver portrays a female version of Alexander Bont, primarily known as Alexandra, in The Defenders. This version is the leader of the Hand. Alexandra is described as an "adversary" rather than a villain and was intended to be portrayed sympathically as a supporting character in Elektra Natchios' story. Alexandra is one of the five "fingers" of the Hand, who all gained immortality using the healing powers of qi. Following the death of Elektra, Alexandra resurrects her to create the ancient weapon Black Sky, which is prophesied to destroy all enemies of the Hand. Alexandra intends to use Elektra to steal the Iron Fist from Danny Rand. However, Elektra regains her memories of her previous life and kills Alexandra, claiming leadership of the Hand. http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/bontalexander.htm http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1784594/
== In the Half-Life video game series == Black Mesa Research Facility, a fictional scientific research complex in New Mexico that forms the setting for the video game Half-Life and the game with the same name. Black Mesa East, a fictional resistance base in Eastern Europe, featured in Half-Life 2 Black Mesa (video game), a fan-made remake of the video game Half-Life
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic peptide of seven amino acids. Its backbone corresponds to a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone extended at the carboxyl end. The material is distributed as a lyophilized solid for laboratory use.
The extension was introduced to slow enzymatic breakdown of the peptide in biological systems. Natural ACTH fragments are degraded rapidly by peptidases. Adding the tripeptide was intended to extend the window during which the molecule remains intact.
Most published work consists of animal experiments conducted in a small number of laboratories. Human data are limited in number and size. Whether the observed effects translate into reliable clinical benefit is still unresolved.
It consists mainly of animal experiments and small clinical reports, with much of the clinical material published in Russian-language journals. Large independent trials are scarce. Separating reliable effects from chance findings is consequently difficult.