If you have been reading about nootropic 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.
Updated 2026-06-04. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
The parent fragment ACTH(4-10) carries the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly. Semax replaces the arginine and tryptophan positions with a proline-glycine-proline tail, giving Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. That change removes residues associated with adrenal stimulation, so the peptide does not drive cortisol release the way full ACTH does. This distinction shapes how the compound is grouped in the literature, where it sits with neuropeptides and peptide neuromodulators rather than with corticosteroids.
Regulatory status varies sharply by country. Semax is registered for medical use in Russia, where it appears in formularies as a nasal solution, and it also holds registration in a small number of neighbouring states. It has no approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency, and it is not a scheduled controlled substance in most jurisdictions. Elsewhere it circulates mainly as laboratory material, so purity documentation comes from suppliers rather than from a national pharmacopoeia.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analogue of the ACTH(4-10) fragment |
| Amino acid sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Single-letter form MEHFPGP |
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S | Free peptide, nominal mass near 814 Da |
| First registration | 1994, Russia | Nasal formulation for neurological indications |
| Typical purity grade | 95% or higher by HPLC | Research material; higher grades used as reference standards |
Benninghoven graduated from the University of Cologne in 1961 where he worked with Fritz Kirchner (1896–1967) and completed his habilitation in surface physics in Cologne two years later. He first worked as professor in Cologne from 1965 to 1973 until he moved to a full professor position in experimental physics at the University of Münster in 1972. He worked on static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and its applications, and developed SIMS instruments. In 1989 he co-founded IonTOF, a company that became a world-leader in TOF-SIMS instrumentation. He has written over 300 scientific articles and several books on the topic of SIMS, many of which have become reference works on SIMS. For his work, he has received the Technology Transfer prize (German Ministry of Education and Research) and the 1984 Gaede-Langmuir Prize (American Vacuum Society) for the development of concepts and instrumentation in static secondary ion mass spectrometry and the demonstration of its usefulness in manifold applications. In 1990 he shared the Fritz-Pregl-Medaille of the Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry with Wilhelm Simon. From 1977 to 1983, he was president of the German Vacuum Society (part of the German Physical Society).
Moroder studied chemistry at the University of Padova, where he graduated 1965 in chemistry with the doctoral thesis on synthesis of S-peptide of ribonuclease A in the laboratory of Ernesto Scoffone at the Institute of Organic Chemistry. In 1968 he joined Klaus H. Hofmann's Group at the University of Pittsburgh to work on chemical synthesis of the peptidic adrenocorticotropic hormone and its derivatives. Moroder habilitated in 1971 at the University of Padova in Chemistry of Natural Products. 1975 he became a senior research fellow in the Department of Peptide Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried headed by Erich Wünsch. Between 1991 and 2008 he was the head of the Laboratory of Bioorganic chemistry at the MPIB. Since 1994 he was an adjunct professor at the Technical University of Munich.
=== Solubility === As an example of the wide range of solubility of calcium compounds, monocalcium phosphate is very soluble in water, 85% of extracellular calcium is as dicalcium phosphate with a solubility of 2.00 mM, and the hydroxyapatite of bones in an organic matrix is tricalcium phosphate with a solubility of 1000 μM.
== Expression in skin tissue == Both Hsp70 and HSP47 were shown to be expressed in dermis and epidermis following laser irradiation, and the spatial and temporal changes in HSP expression patterns define the laser-induced thermal damage zone and the process of healing in tissues. Hsp70 may define biochemically the thermal damage zone in which cells are targeted for destruction, and HSP47 may illustrate the process of recovery from thermally induced damage. HSP70 helps in protecting skin against the increased melanin and wrinkled formation induced due to UV exposure.
The 2001 Copa América, hosted by Colombia, was nearly lost to the country's security situation. CONMEBOL held three meetings on the matter: on 28 June 2001 the tournament was moved out of Colombia, on 30 June it was returned but postponed to 2002, and on 5 July the original schedule was confirmed. Canada, one of two invited guests, withdrew on 6 July and Argentina on 10 July, the day before the opening match; Costa Rica and Honduras were invited in their place. Honduras arrived with a hastily assembled squad and went on to reach the semi-finals. Colombia won Group A with maximum points, all three matches played at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla: Venezuela were beaten 2–0 through Freddy Grisales and a Víctor Aristizábal penalty, Ecuador 1–0 through Aristizábal, and Chile 2–0 through an Aristizábal penalty and a 90th-minute goal from Iván Arriaga. Peru were beaten 3–0 in the quarter-finals at Armenia, Aristizábal scoring twice, and Honduras — who had eliminated Brazil in the previous round — were beaten 2–0 in the semi-final at the Estadio Palogrande in Manizales, Bedoya scoring inside six minutes and Aristizábal adding the second. In the final at the Estadio El Campín in Bogotá on 29 July, before 47,000 spectators, Iván Córdoba headed in the only goal in the 65th minute to beat Mexico 1–0 and win Colombia's first major trophy. Colombia won the competition without conceding a goal, keeping six clean sheets in six matches and scoring eleven, the highest total of the tournament.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
OR is the root name (Olfactory Receptor superfamily) n = an integer representing a family (e.g., 1-56) whose members have greater than 40% sequence identity, X = a single letter (A, B, C, ...) denoting a subfamily (>60% sequence identity), and m = an integer representing an individual family member ("isoform", in the sense of a paralog). For example, OR1A1 in the first isoform of subfamily A of olfactory receptor family 1. Members belonging to the same subfamily of olfactory receptors (>60% sequence identity) are likely to recognize structurally similar odorant molecules. In the HUGO scheme, families 1–14 are assigned to gamma ORs and families 51–56 are assigned to alpha and beta ORs (beta is only present as a pseudogene). The HUGO scheme only covers type 1 ORs. The type 2 OR-family proteins found in humans include GPR148 of the theta-1 subclade and a pseudogene of the kappa family.
== June 2012 reconstitution == On 29 June 2012, the Ministry was reconstituted. This followed the retirement of Liz Constable (Education), the removal of Rob Johnson (Police; Road Safety) and the earlier resignation on 12 June of Christian Porter (Treasurer; Attorney General), whose duties had been temporarily split between Premier Colin Barnett and senior minister Norman Moore. Three new ministers were appointed from amongst the parliamentary secretary ranks, and three new secretaries were appointed to replace them. The list below is ordered by decreasing seniority within the Cabinet, as indicated by the Government Gazette and the Hansard index. Blue entries indicate members of the Liberal Party, while green entries indicate members of the National Party.
Acupuncture practitioners should know, and be prepared to be responsible for, any substantial harm from treatments. Some acupuncture proponents argue that the long history of acupuncture suggests it is safe. However, there is an increasing literature on adverse events (e.g. spinal-cord injury). Acupuncture seems to be safe in people getting anticoagulants, assuming needles are used at the correct location and depth, but studies are required to verify these findings.
== History == Acetone peroxide (specifically, triacetone triperoxide) was discovered in 1895 by a German chemist, Richard Wolffenstein. Wolffenstein combined acetone and hydrogen peroxide. Then he allowed the mixture to stand for a week at room temperature, during which time a small quantity of crystals precipitated, which had a melting point of 97 °C (207 °F). In 1899, Adolf von Baeyer and Victor Villiger described the first synthesis of the dimer and described use of acids for the synthesis of both peroxides. Baeyer and Villiger prepared the dimer by combining potassium persulfate in diethyl ether with acetone, under cooling. After separating the ether layer, the product was purified and found to melt at 132–133 °C (270–271 °F). They found that the trimer could be prepared by adding hydrochloric acid to a chilled mixture of acetone and hydrogen peroxide. By using the depression of freezing points to determine the molecular weights of the compounds, they also determined that the form of acetone peroxide that they had prepared via potassium persulfate was a dimer, whereas the acetone peroxide that had been prepared via hydrochloric acid was a trimer, like Wolffenstein's compound. Work on this methodology and on the various products obtained, was further investigated in the mid-20th century by Milas and Golubović.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Registered medical products are most often 0.1% nasal drops. Research suppliers ship lyophilized powder, usually in milligram quantities, which is dissolved before use. The active peptide is the same in both cases; presentation and excipients differ.
No. The peptide is synthetic, although it is modelled on a fragment of a naturally occurring hormone. ACTH(4-10) is generated when ACTH is cleaved, but the Pro-Gly-Pro extension is not a known endogenous sequence. It is therefore a designed analogue rather than a natural metabolite.
The label reflects reported effects on attention, memory and recovery after neurological injury in regional clinical reports. Those reports are mostly small and have not been widely replicated outside the region. The classification is descriptive and does not imply a single defined mechanism.
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.