Everything below concerns reversed-phase HPLC. We keep the language plain, cite what the science says, and separate well-supported claims from open questions.
Last reviewed on 2026-05-29. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
Purity assessment relies mainly on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, which separates the target heptapeptide from truncated sequences, deletion analogues, and oxidised forms. Mass spectrometry, usually coupled to liquid chromatography, confirms identity through the expected molecular ion and reveals modifications such as methionine sulfoxide formation. Amino acid analysis can verify composition, and tandem mass spectrometry supports sequence confirmation. Ultraviolet detection near 254 to 280 nanometres is convenient because the phenylalanine and histidine residues absorb in that region. Nuclear magnetic resonance is rarely used for routine release testing.
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.
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.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical analytical method | Reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection | Separates target peptide from truncated and oxidised forms |
| Identity confirmation | LC-MS or ESI-MS | Compares observed and calculated molecular ion |
| Primary degradation route | Methionine oxidation | Forms the sulfoxide; monitored as an early-eluting peak |
| Short-term storage | 2 to 8 degrees Celsius | Applies to working vials and reconstituted portions |
| Common synonyms | ACTH(4–10) analogue, MEHFPGP | Descriptive names used in laboratory catalogues |
Identity and purity of Semax are established mainly by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The chromatographic trace gives a purity estimate as a percentage of total peak area, while electrospray or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization confirms the molecular mass against the calculated value. Amino acid analysis and sequence-specific fragmentation provide further confirmation when a supplier's chain of custody is unclear. Vendors frequently quote a purity figure without stating the detection wavelength or the integration method, which limits how far one number can be compared with another.
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.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. Its design combines the ACTH(4-7) core fragment with a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension, a modification intended to improve stability and prolong activity. The molecule is hydrophilic, carries no lipid chains or glycosylation, and has a theoretical mass just over 810 daltons in its free form. All seven residues are proteinogenic amino acids, so no non-natural building blocks appear in the backbone. A free N-terminal methionine and C-terminal proline define the unmodified parent peptide.
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.
Quality documentation for research-grade peptide usually includes a certificate of analysis stating purity, identity, and residual counterion content. Batch-to-batch variation in purity and salt form is a recognized issue, and comparisons across suppliers require attention to the exact counterion, for example acetate versus trifluoroacetate. Sequence verification by tandem mass spectrometry provides stronger evidence than a single mass measurement. For any study reporting biological results, the analytical method and the measured purity should be stated explicitly. Independent verification of supplier claims is considered good practice.
Semax is supplied as a lyophilized powder that appears white to off-white. It dissolves readily in water, phosphate-buffered saline, and other aqueous media, which simplifies preparation of working solutions for laboratory use. The nasal products registered in Russia are dilute aqueous solutions, typically around 0.1 percent peptide by weight. Organic solvents are rarely necessary and can complicate handling. Because the peptide is hygroscopic, weighing should be performed quickly and with minimal exposure to ambient humidity.
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。
当时的短肽研究普遍关注能否穿越血脑屏障、在低剂量下产生中枢效应，Semax 属于这一路线。鼻内给药是其主要使用方式，俄语文献报道的适应症涵盖缺血性卒中、短暂性脑缺血发作、认知功能减退以及视神经病变。这些研究大多发表在当地期刊上，样本规模与终点设置同西方试验惯例存在差异，国际同行对其临床证据的强度看法不一。
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。
Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing them. They are removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flowers for contrast and design purposes. Floral design professionals work at florist shops (floristry) and use their design skills and experience with many types of flowers and greens to create works of art with flowers. Cut flowers, and to a lesser extent, cut greens, are a significant and international segment of the floral industry. The plants that are grown vary by plant species as well as by climate, cultural practices and the accessibility of worldwide transportation. Professional horticulturists raise the plants specifically for this purpose, in field or glasshouse growing conditions. Boxes of harvested flowers are shipped via air freight throughout the world. The study of the efficient production, distribution and marketing of floral crops is a branch of horticulture, called floriculture.
=== Claims of innocence === Norris appealed against his conviction in 2009. Originally, Norris planned to appeal on the grounds that the trial judge had shown a "lack of balance", but then scrapped these plans and sacked his legal team. He subsequently appealed on the grounds that the judge had "misdirected" the jury in his final summary but he lost this appeal, with judge Lord Justice Aikens ruling the convictions were "safe" and saying that the case against Norris was "very strong indeed". The appeal court rejected both grounds of the appeal, saying that the judge's directions "cannot validly be criticised" and that there was no misdirection to the jury. The appeal court instead said that the judge's summary in the original case was an exemplary "tour de force". The judges also refused to believe that the deaths were "coincidental". Norris's defence team had argued that the deaths could have been the result of 'naturally' raised insulin levels caused by severe spontaneous hypoglycaemia, but the judges rejected this possibility. On 4 October 2011, the BBC reported that retired Professor Vincent Marks – a leading expert on insulin poisoning – was concerned about Norris's conviction. He had been asked by the Norris family to find evidence in the case. He claimed the jury at Norris's trial was wrongly led to believe by experts that a cluster of hypoglycaemic episodes, among people who were not diabetic, was sinister. After carrying out his own studies, he said: "Looking at all the evidence, all I can say is I think Colin Norris's conviction is unsafe".
=== Degradation === In mammals, norepinephrine is rapidly degraded to various metabolites. The initial step in the breakdown can be catalyzed by either of the enzymes monoamine oxidase (mainly monoamine oxidase A) or COMT. From there, the breakdown can proceed by a variety of pathways. The principal end products are either Vanillylmandelic acid or a conjugated form of MHPG, both of which are thought to be biologically inactive and are excreted in the urine.
Tweezing (hairs are tweezed, or pulled out, with tweezers or with fingers) Waxing (a hot or cold layer is applied and then removed with porous strips) Sugaring (hair is removed by applying a sticky paste to the skin in the direction of hair growth and then peeling off with a porous strip) Threading (also called fatlah or khite in Arabic, or band in Persian) in which a twisted thread catches hairs as it is rolled across the skin Epilators (mechanical devices that rapidly grasp hairs and pull them out). Drugs that directly attack hair growth or inhibit the development of new hair cells. Hair growth will become less and less until it finally stops; normal depilation/epilation will be performed until that time. Hair growth will return to normal if use of product is discontinued. Products include the following: The pharmaceutical drug eflornithine hydrochloride (with the trade names Vaniqa and Follinil) inhibits the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase, preventing new hair cells from producing putrescine for stabilizing their DNA. Antiandrogens, including spironolactone, cyproterone acetate, flutamide, bicalutamide, and finasteride, can be used to reduce or eliminate unwanted body hair, such as in the treatment of hirsutism. Although effective for reducing body hair, antiandrogens have little effect on facial hair. However, slight effectiveness may be observed, such as some reduction in density/coverage and slower growth. Antiandrogens will also prevent further development of facial hair, despite only minimally affecting that which is already there.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Graphene analogs == Graphene analogs (also referred to as "artificial graphene") are two-dimensional systems which exhibit similar properties to graphene. Graphene analogs have been studied intensively since the discovery of graphene in 2004. People try to develop systems in which the physics is easier to observe and manipulate than in graphene. In those systems, electrons are not always the particles that are used. They might be optical photons, microwave photons, plasmons, microcavity polaritons, or even atoms. Also, the honeycomb structure in which those particles evolve can be of a different nature than carbon atoms in graphene. It can be, respectively, a photonic crystal, an array of metallic rods, metallic nanoparticles, a lattice of coupled microcavities, or an optical lattice.
In the early 20th century, Freer, in 1902, and Killian, in 1904, pioneered the submucous resection septoplasty (SMR) procedure for correcting a deviated septum; they raised mucoperichondrial tissue flaps, and resected the cartilaginous and bony septum (including the vomer bone and the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone), maintaining septal support with a 1.0-cm margin at the dorsum and a 1.0-cm margin at the caudad, for which innovations the technique became the foundational, standard septoplastic procedure. In 1929, Peer and Metzenbaum performed the first manipulation of the caudal septum, where it originates and projects from the forehead. In 1934, Aurel Rethi introduced the open rhinoplasty approach featuring an incision to the nasal septum to facilitate modifying the tip of the nose. In 1947, Maurice H. Cottle (1898–1981) endonasally resolved a septal deviation with a minimalist hemitransfixion incision, which conserved the septum; thus, he advocated for the practical primacy of the closed rhinoplasty approach. In 1957, A. Sercer advocated the "decortication of the nose" (Dekortication des Nase) technique which featured a columellar-incision open rhinoplasty that allowed greater access to the nasal cavity and to the nasal septum. The endonasal rhinoplasty was the usual approach to nose surgery until the 1970s, when Padovan presented his technical refinements, advocating the open rhinoplasty approach; he was seconded by Wilfred S. Goodman in the later 1970s, and by Jack P. Gunter in the 1990s.
=== Taubman Investment Co. subsidiary === In 1982, A. Alfred Taubman purchased A&W and placed it under Taubman Investment Co. Taubman only purchased the restaurant company and not A&W Beverages. The chain dropped to fewer than 500 locations in the mid-1980s. A freeze on issuing franchises was put in place. Taubman wanted to restructure the chain by changing its "outdated" image. Franchisees were being neglected in the United Fruit phase. Taubman opted to withdraw agreements with 100 franchisees that were performing poorly and ousted 80% of its workforce. With this, the new management decided to split its fast-food restaurants into two units – the conventional orange roof A&W restaurants, which were still the majority, and A&W Great Food Restaurants. In 1983, A&W opened its first restaurant in Thailand, at the Central Ladprao shopping mall in Bangkok. In 1985, A&W began offering the Third Pounder to compete with McDonald's Quarter Pounder. As advertised, the Third beat the Quarter in taste tests and was less expensive by weight. In his 2007 memoir, former owner A. Alfred Taubman claimed research had revealed that it had been unsuccessful in part due to Americans' widespread innumeracy, specifically their inability to understand fractions: 1/3 was perceived as smaller than 1/4 (due to the smaller denominator) despite being a larger quantity. The burger was relaunched in 2021 as the 3/9 Pound burger, humorously attempting to capitalize on the now-popular fractions misunderstanding story.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Dry powder is usually kept at about -20 degrees Celsius for long-term storage and at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for short working periods. Containers should stay sealed and protected from light and moisture to limit degradation.
Oxidation of the methionine residue to the sulfoxide is a frequently reported change, and it usually appears as an earlier-eluting peak in reversed-phase chromatography. Backbone hydrolysis products can also accumulate in aqueous solution.
Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry is the usual approach, because the observed molecular ion can be compared with a calculated mass of about 813.9 Da. Retention time alone does not establish identity.
Semax is based on the ACTH(4-10) fragment, a seven-amino-acid segment of adrenocorticotropic hormone. The synthetic peptide retains the core sequence while removing regions associated with endocrine activity. This modification is intended to isolate effects on the nervous system.