nootropic comes up often in conversation and rarely with the context attached. Here we lay out the basics in order, then work through the practical considerations.
Last reviewed on 2026-02-15. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
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.
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.
Semax is a synthetic peptide created in the Soviet Union during the early 1980s by researchers working in Moscow. It was built from the short adrenocorticotropic hormone fragment known as ACTH(4-10), and the chain was then extended with three additional amino acids. The resulting molecule was named semax and entered clinical use in Russia in 1994. It is generally described as a nootropic and neuroprotective agent rather than as a hormone analogue.
| 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 |
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。
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。
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.
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.
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.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide developed in the Soviet Union during the 1980s by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow. It was designed as a truncated analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone, retaining only the fragment spanning residues four through ten. Investigators sought a peptide that would preserve the cognitive effects associated with ACTH while eliminating the hormonal stimulation of the adrenal cortex. The compound entered clinical use in Russia during the following decade.
Russian regulatory authorities approved the peptide for nasal administration, and it remains listed in the national pharmacopoeia under several trade names. Documented indications include acute ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, traumatic brain injury, and certain ophthalmological and neurological conditions. Physicians also prescribe it for cognitive complaints in older patients, although the evidence base for that use is thinner. Outside Russia and a few neighboring states, the substance is not an approved medicine and is sold instead as a research chemical.
Later generations of the molecule include an N-acetylated form and an amidated form, both marketed online alongside the parent peptide. These variants differ in terminal chemistry and stability, and they are frequently discussed in the same breath even though they have not been compared in controlled trials. Supply outside formal healthcare systems comes largely from laboratories that synthesize peptides to order. Purity and identity of these materials vary widely, and no single body oversees the international trade.
In the 1980s, researchers at the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) began exploring the then-heretical idea that a patient's immune system could be harnessed to fight cancer. These researchers included Michael Potter, Ira Pastan, and Steven Rosenberg who developed approaches including monoclonal antibody-based immunotoxins, checkpoint inhibitors, cytokine-based therapies, and adoptive cell therapy studies.
=== Spray drying === Spray-dried instant coffee is cheaper to produce and is preferred to freeze-drying in some cases because it allows larger scale economic production, shorter drying times, and produces fine, round, dust-sized particles. The particles as produced are too fine to use directly; they must first be steam-fused either in towers similar to spray dryers or by belt agglomeration to produce particles of suitable size. The process produces spherical particles about 300 micrometres (0.012 in) in size with a density of 0.22 g/cm3 through a nozzle atomizer. Various ways of nozzle atomization can be used, each having advantages and disadvantages. Wheels rotating at rapid speeds of about 20,000 rpm can process up to 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of solution per hour. The use of spray wheels requires that the drying towers have a wide radius to avoid the atomized droplets collecting onto the drying chamber walls. This process can be completed in 5 to 30 seconds, depending on factors such as temperature, size of particle, and diameter of chamber, and can reduce moisture content by over 70%.
=== Cold War tensions and the border militarisation === The increasing likelihood of armed conflict in South West Africa had strong international foreign policy implications, for both Western Europe and the Soviet bloc. Prior to the late 1950s, South Africa's defence policy had been influenced by international Cold War politics, including the domino theory and fears of a conventional Soviet military threat to the strategic Cape trade route between the south Atlantic and Indian oceans. Noting that the country had become the world's principal source of uranium, the South African Department of External Affairs reasoned that "on this account alone, therefore, South Africa is bound to be implicated in any war between East and West". Prime Minister Malan took the position that colonial Africa was being directly threatened by the Soviets, or at least by Soviet-backed communist agitation, and this was only likely to increase whatever the result of another European war. Malan promoted an African Pact, similar to NATO, headed by South Africa and the Western colonial powers accordingly. The concept failed due to international opposition to apartheid and suspicion of South African military overtures in the British Commonwealth. South Africa's participation in the Korean War produced a significant warming of relations between Malan and the United States, despite American criticism of apartheid. Until the early 1960s, South African strategic and military support was considered an integral component of U.S.
minisatellite A region of repetitive, non-coding genomic DNA in which certain DNA motifs (typically 10–60 bases in length) are tandemly repeated (typically 5–50 times). In the human genome, minisatellites occur at more than 1,000 loci, especially in centromeres and telomeres, and exhibit high mutation rates and high variability between individuals. Like the shorter microsatellites, they are classified as variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) and are a type of satellite DNA.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Delegates from the member countries attend committee and other meetings. Former Deputy Secretary-General Pierre Vinde estimated in 1997 that the cost borne by the member countries, such as sending their officials to OECD meetings and maintaining permanent delegations, is equivalent to the cost of running the secretariat. The OECD regularly holds minister-level meetings and forums as platforms for a discussion on a broad spectrum of thematic issues relevant to the OECD charter, member countries, and non-member countries.
=== Professional services === He has fulfilled roles in numerous professional organizations, including the Swedish Biochemical Society (secretary 1976–1982); Chairman of the Swedish National Committee on Biochemistry, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1988–1990; Chairman Scientific Program Committee for the 22nd Meeting of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, FEBS 1993; editorial boards of the Biochemical Journal, ChemBioChem, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Protein Engineering Design and Selection, the Journal of Biological Chemistry. In addition, he has had advisory roles at various companies: Telik Inc.; PanVera Corporation, Pharmacia Biotech; Uniroyal Chemical Company; Biovitrum AB; Maxygen; Vividion; Oxford Biomedical Research, Rochester Hills, Michigan.
== Chemistry == Setipiprant appears as a light yellow to yellow colored solid. Based on general guidelines, the powder form is considered stable for 2 years at 4 degrees C, and for 3 years as -20 degrees C. When dissolved in a solvent, setipiprant is stable for 1 month at -20 degrees C, and 6 months at -80 degrees C. It is considered soluble in DMSO at concentrations ≥ 36 mg/mL.
Duarte and his friend Brozin, the founders of the first Nando's, bought a restaurant previously called "Chickenland" and renamed it Nando's. They opened it in 1987. By 2018, there were 340 Nando's restaurants throughout its home market of South Africa.
He is a co-founder and board member of the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, set up in Japan in 2014, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach. He was a Visiting By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16; Professor and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham, a post he has held since 2011; Affiliated Visiting Professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; and a board member and research director at the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, Ogaki-City, Gifu, Japan. In 2017, Wickramasinghe was appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Physics, at the University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Sulfur analogues == There are two oxygen atoms in a carbamate (1), ROC(=O)NR2, and either or both of them can be conceptually replaced by sulfur. Analogues of carbamates with only one of the oxygens replaced by sulfur are called thiocarbamates (2 and 3). Carbamates with both oxygens replaced by sulfur are called dithiocarbamates (4), RSC(=S)NR2. There are two different structurally isomeric types of thiocarbamate:
=== Frank Wade === Frank Wade (Joel Kim Booster) is a research analyst at Pierpoint covering the energy sector. After the tumultuous IPO of green-energy startup Lumi, Wade publishes a research report with a "hold" recommendation on Lumi stock, which is tantamount to a "sell" given that Pierpoint underwrote the IPO.
In 2000, Guinness's 1999 advertisement Surfer was named the best television commercial of all time, in a UK poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4. This advertisement is inspired by the famous 1980s Guinness TV and cinema ad, Big Wave, centred on a surfer riding a wave while a bikini-clad sunbather takes photographs. The 1980s advertisement not only remained a popular iconic image in its own right; it also entered the Irish cultural memory through inspiring a well-known line in Christy Moore's song "Delirium Tremens" (1985). Surfer was produced by the advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; the advertisement can be downloaded from their website. Guinness won the 2001 Clio Award as the Advertiser of the Year, citing the work of five separate ad agencies around the world. In 2002, Guinness applied the Michael Power formula to Asia with the character Adam King. The campaign featured such tag lines as: "Everyday someone, somewhere achieves something new. Sometimes on a grand, dramatic scale. Sometimes on a more personal scale." As of 2004, Guinness ranked among the top three beer labels in Singapore and Malaysia, with a 20 per cent market share across Southeast Asia. Malaysia was the brand's third-largest market in the region and the sixth largest market worldwide. In 2003, the Guinness TV campaign featuring Tom Crean won the gold Shark Award at the International Advertising Festival of Ireland, while in 2005 their Irish Christmas campaign won a silver Shark.
=== Wallace Breen === Dr. Wallace Breen (voiced by Robert Culp) was the administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility at the time of the "Black Mesa Incident", the events depicted in Half-Life, but he was neither seen nor mentioned by name (he was instead always referred to as "the Administrator"). After the Seven Hour War, he "negotiated" a peace agreement with the Combine that saved humanity at the cost of enslavement. Dr. Breen was appointed as ruler of Earth – a puppet of the Combine, who have little physical presence on the planet. In his propaganda messages to the people in City 17 (dubbed "Breencasts"), he often refers to the Combine as "our Benefactors". Behind closed doors, Breen is shown to be a narcissist who is envious of Gordon Freeman's scientific achievements, with Breen's overall dialogue and actions showing that while he believes the Combine are a threat to humanity, he merely cares about "saving" humanity to ensure his own scientific legacy and to surpass Gordon's reputation. He doesn't care about the actual lives of the people he harms as long as his legacy is secured. Marc Laidlaw has gone on record stating that Breen's narcissistic tendencies and overall characterization were inspired by the main villain of Thief II: The Metal Age, Father Karras. The Half-Life 2 art book, Raising the Bar, has information that indicates Breen used, at least at one point of the planned story if not in the final version, a radio transmitter tower on the surface (i.e., not in Black Mesa) to communicate directly to the Combine and negotiate a surrender.
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.
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.