ACTH analog is one of those subjects where the details matter more than the headlines. This page pulls together the background, the mechanisms, and the practical points readers ask about most.
Last reviewed on 2026-04-29. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
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.
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.
Laboratory work points toward modulation of neurotrophic signaling, particularly expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in hippocampal tissue. Studies also describe effects on monoamine turnover, inflammatory mediators, and oxidative markers. These observations come mainly from animal models and cultured cells, so the causal chain in humans is not firmly established. Whether the reported molecular changes translate into measurable clinical benefit is an open question. Reviews generally present the mechanism as plausible rather than demonstrated.
Clinical evidence consists largely of small trials with modest sample sizes, often without independent replication. Reported endpoints include cognitive scores, recovery after stroke, and visual function, but study designs vary widely and few trials meet contemporary reporting standards. Systematic reviewers have noted a high risk of bias in several of these reports. No large multicenter trial conducted outside Russia has been published. The compound is therefore best described as investigational in most jurisdictions, with its clinical role still unresolved.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | ACTH(4-7) analogue |
| Sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Free N terminus, unmodified side chains |
| Molecular weight | 813.9 Da | Free base; salt forms differ |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Lyophilised solid |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Hydrophilic; polar solvents preferred |
The compound is registered in Russia as a pharmaceutical product, most commonly formulated as a nasal solution, and has been used in that setting since the 1990s. Outside that jurisdiction it is generally handled as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. Regulatory status therefore differs sharply between countries, and material sold internationally may not correspond to the Russian pharmaceutical formulation. Documentation with commercial samples is typically limited to a certificate of analysis covering purity and identity, not clinical status or local legal classification.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It corresponds to the ACTH(4-7) fragment extended at the C-terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, an addition intended to slow enzymatic breakdown. The molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and the molecular mass is approximately 814 daltons. In the literature it is often described as an ACTH(4-10) analog, although that label reflects a naming convention as much as a precise structural relationship. The compound was developed in Russia and remains most closely associated with that research tradition.
Published research on this peptide originates mainly from Russian laboratories, and the wider international literature is comparatively thin. Studies have used rodent models of stroke, hypoxia, and memory tasks, with a smaller number of human trials reported. Reported outcomes include changes in attention and memory measures, along with effects on neurotrophic factor expression in some experiments. Small sample sizes, inconsistent dosing protocols, and limited independent replication are widely noted limitations, so the strength of the clinical evidence remains an open question.
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.
1,3-Beta-glucan synthase is a glucosyltransferase enzyme involved in the generation of beta-glucan in fungi. It serves as a pharmacological target for antifungal drugs such as caspofungin, anidulafungin, and micafungin, deemed 1,3-Beta-glucan synthase inhibitors. Under the CAZy classification system, fungi and plant members fall in the glycosyltransferase 48 family (GT48). Some members of the glycosyltransferase 2 family (Pfam PF13632), such as the curdlan synthase CrdS (Q9X2V0), also has a similar activity. The biosynthesis of disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides involves the action of hundreds of different glycosyltransferases. These enzymes catalyse the transfer of sugar moieties from activated donor molecules to specific acceptor molecules, forming glycosidic bonds. The family consists of various 1,3-beta-glucan synthase components including Gls1, Gls2, and Gls3 from yeast. 1,3-Beta-glucan synthase (EC 2.4.1.34.) also known as callose synthase catalyses the formation of a beta-1,3-glucan polymer that is a major component of the fungal cell wall. The reaction catalysed is:
In normal usage, the rate-limiting step or rate-determining step is defined as the slowest step of a chemical reaction that determines the speed (rate) at which the overall reaction proceeds. The flux control coefficients do not measure this kind of rate-limiting. For example, in a linear chain of reactions at steady-state, all steps carry the same flux. That is, there is no slow or fast step with respect to the rate or speed of a reaction. The flux control coefficient, instead, measures how much influence a given step has on the steady-state flux. A step with a high flux control coefficient means that changing the activity of the step (by changing the expression level of the enzyme) will have a large effect on the steady-state flux through the pathway and vice versa. Historically the concept of the rate-limiting steps was also related to the notion of the master step. However, this drew much criticism due to a misunderstanding of the concept of the steady-state. Elasticity coefficient Metabolic control analysis Summation theorems (biochemistry)
While thorium was discovered in 1828 its first application dates only from 1885, when Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach invented the gas mantle, a portable source of light which produces light from the incandescence of thorium oxide when heated by burning gaseous fuels. Many applications were subsequently found for thorium and its compounds, including ceramics, carbon arc lamps, heat-resistant crucibles, and as catalysts for industrial chemical reactions such as the oxidation of ammonia to nitric acid.
=== Reggio revolt === The Reggio revolt came on 14 July 1970, supported across social classes (bourgeoisie, clergy, students, political parties, civic committees). Clashes with authorities left one dead (railroad worker Bruno Labate), prompting Archbishop Vincenzo Ferro to join the showdown. The uprising was supported by liberal-conservative newspapers (such as Gazzetta del Sud and Il Tempo). Gradually protest leadership passed from Mayor Battaglia, to more assertive movements, particularly the Movimento Sociale Italiano, seen as least compromised with the republican regime. The Missini authored slogans (famous was the boia chi molla of D'Annunzian memory). Ciccio Franco, a CISNAL trade unionist and Reggio Calabria-based Missini exponent, emerged as the undisputed leader. Barricades were erected, the railway station was occupied and convoys and ferries to Sicily were blocked. Nineteen days of general strikes, 12 bomb attacks, 32 roadblocks, 14 occupations of the station, 2 of the post office, 1 of the television station, and 4 assaults on the prefecture, The death toll reached 5 on both sides (in addition to Labate, Angelo Campanella, also perished in the clashes, Vincenzo Curigliano, Antonio Bellotti, and Carmelo Jaconis). 426 were arrested and 200 were wounded during police charges (whose members were insulted and vilified even by hospital doctors). In some parts of the city, “autonomous republics” were proclaimed, such as the “Republic of Sbarre” and the “Grand Duchy of St. Catherine”.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
X-ray crystallography: This technique allows for the 3D determination of molecular structures. Various forms of spectroscopy: Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy: Historically, this has been an important tool, since many inorganic compounds are strongly colored NMR spectroscopy: Besides 1H and 13C many other NMR-active nuclei (e.g., 11B, 19F, 31P, and 195Pt) can give important information on compound properties and structure. The NMR of paramagnetic species can provide important structural information. Proton (1H) NMR is also important because the light hydrogen nucleus is not easily detected by X-ray crystallography. Infrared spectroscopy: Mostly for absorptions from carbonyl ligands Electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy Mössbauer spectroscopy Electron-spin resonance: ESR (or EPR) allows for the measurement of the environment of paramagnetic metal centres. Electrochemistry: Cyclic voltammetry and related techniques probe the redox characteristics of compounds.
After being incited to rid the country of the gachupines (a disparaging term for Peninsulares), Hidalgo's forces indiscriminately massacred hundreds of Criollos and Peninsulares who had taken refuge at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato. In Venezuela during his Admirable Campaign, Simón Bolívar instituted a policy of a war to the death, in which royalist Spanish Americans would be purposely spared but even neutral Peninsulares would be killed, to drive a wedge between the two groups. This policy laid the ground for the violent royalist reaction under Boves. Often though, royalism or patriotism simply provided a banner to organize the aggrieved, and the political causes could be discarded just as quickly as they were picked up. The Venezuelan Llaneros switched to the Patriot banner once the elites and the urban centers became securely royalist after 1815, and it was the royal army in Mexico that ultimately brought about that nation's independence.
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population in the world as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre. Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area. Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor. Pakistan is the site of several ancient cultures, including the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan, the Indus Valley Civilisation of the Bronze Age, and the ancient Gandhara civilisation. The regions that compose the modern state of Pakistan were the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid, the Maurya, the Kushan, the Gupta; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Samma, the Shah Miris, the Mughals, and finally, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947.
Azalides are a class of macrolide antibiotics that were originally manufactured in response to the poor acid stability exhibited by original macrolides such as erythromycin. Examples of azalides include azithromycin, which is used in humans, while tulathromycin and gamithromycin are used in veterinary medicine. Following the clinical overuse of macrolides and azalides, ketolides have been developed to combat surfacing macrolide-azalide resistance among streptococci species. Azalides have several advantages over erythromycin such as more potent gram negative antimicrobial activity, acid stability, and side effect tolerability. Although there are few drug interactions with azithromycin, it weakly inhibits the CYP3A4 enzyme.
Despite getting a late start in publishing his research (he did not publish a paper until 10 years after finishing graduate school), Fenn had over 100 publications at the time of his death. He also wrote a book, entitled Engines, Energy, and Entropy: A Thermodynamics Primer. The Science History Institute Museum in Philadelphia, PA has the instrument Fenn and his graduate students built while they were developing electrospray ionization on display, after receiving it as a gift from Fenn.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== History == BRD-6929 was first described in the scientific literature in 2005. Subsequently, it was described in greater detail in 2013 and thereafter. The drug's apparent lack of selectivity for HDAC1 and HDAC2 over HDAC3 was first described in 2022.
=== June === 1 June – Robert Anderson, cricketer (Otago, Central Districts, national team) (born 1948). 4 June Edwin Perry, politician, New Zealand First list MP (2002–2005), Masterton District Councillor (2007–2010) (born 1948). Bruce Stewart, lawyer, Rhodes Scholar (1975), King's Counsel (since 2000) (born 1953). 6 June – Marise Wipani, beauty pageant contestant, actor (Came a Hot Friday, Shortland Street, Soldier Soldier), and television presenter (Lotto) (born 1964). 7 June – David Lean, local politician, Mayor of New Plymouth (1980–1992), Taranaki Regional Councillor (since 1989) (born 1948). 8 June Anthony Reid, historian (Australian National University, UCLA, National University of Singapore) (born 1939). Stu Wilson, rugby union player (Wellington, national team) and television commentator (born 1954). 10 June – Roka Ngarimu-Cameron, tohunga raranga and traditional Māori arts academic (University of Otago) (born 1948). 12 June Maurice Gee, novelist (Under the Mountain, In My Father's Den, Plumb), Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon (since 2003) (born 1931). Phil Silva, psychologist and paediatrician (University of Otago), founder (1972) and director (1972–1999) of the Dunedin Study (born 1940). Sir Cliff Skeggs, Hall of Fame businessman and local politician, Mayor of Dunedin (1977–1989) (born 1931). 14 June – Lorraine Barry, music manager (Dave Dobbyn, Ice-T, Spice Girls) (born c. 1958). 15 June – Barry Vercoe, computer scientist (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and composer, inventor of Csound (1985) (born 1937).
Affinity Chromatography is another powerful separation technique that is highly selective for the protein of interest based upon molecular conformation, which frequently utilizes application specific resins. These resins have ligands attached to their surfaces which are specific for the compounds to be separated. Most frequently, these ligands function in a fashion similar to that of antibody-antigen interactions. This "lock and key" fit between the ligand and its target compound makes it highly specific, frequently generating a single peak, while all else in the sample is unretained. Many membrane proteins are glycoproteins and can be purified by lectin affinity chromatography. Detergent-solubilized proteins can be allowed to bind to a chromatography resin that has been modified to have a covalently attached lectin. Proteins that do not bind to the lectin are washed away and then specifically bound glycoproteins can be eluted by adding a high concentration of a sugar that competes with the bound glycoproteins at the lectin binding site. Some lectins have high affinity binding to oligosaccharides of glycoproteins that is hard to compete with sugars, and bound glycoproteins need to be released by denaturing the lectin.
=== Dose reconstruction with ESR spectroscopy of deciduous teeth === As a result of accidents or improper use and disposal of radiation sources, a significant number of people are exposed to varying degrees of radiation. Radioactivity and local dose measurements are not sufficient to fully assess the effects of radiation. To retrospectively determine the individual radiation dose, measurements are made on teeth, i.e. on biological, endogenous materials. Tooth enamel is particularly suitable for the detection of ionizing radiation due to its high mineral content (hydroxyapatite), which has been known since 1968 thanks to the research of John M. Brady, Norman O. Aarestad and Harold M. Swartz. The measurements are performed on milk teeth, preferably molars, using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (ESR, EPR). The concentration of radicals generated by ionizing radiation is measured in the mineral part of the tooth. Due to the high stability of the radicals, this method can be used for dosimetry of long past exposures.
Creation-science means origin through abrupt appearance in complex form, and includes biological creation, biochemical creation (or chemical creation), and cosmic creation. (...) Creation-science does not include as essential parts the concepts of catastrophism, a world-wide flood, a recent inception of the earth or life, from nothingness (ex nihilo), the concept of kinds, or any concepts from Genesis or other religious texts.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide built from the ACTH(4-7) sequence plus a Pro-Gly-Pro tail. It belongs to the family of short ACTH fragments studied for nervous-system effects. Its backbone contains only standard amino acids.
It contains the 4-7 fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone extended at the C terminus. That truncation removes the region associated with steroidogenic activity. The design intent was to keep neurotrophic properties while avoiding full hormonal effects.
No natural source of the intact heptapeptide is known. It is produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Some related ACTH fragments arise as hormone processing products, but the Pro-Gly-Pro extension is a designed addition rather than a natural sequence.
Semax is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide derived from a fragment of corticotropin. It is used in Russia as a nasal preparation, while elsewhere it is studied as a research compound. It is not approved as a medicine in most countries.