ACTH(4-10) 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.
Updated 2026-08-01. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
The C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension is not incidental. Proline-rich tails are known to resist several common peptidases, and the published literature attributes the longer half-life of Semax, relative to unmodified ACTH fragments, to this feature. The modification also removes the melanocyte-stimulating and corticosteroidogenic activity that characterizes longer ACTH-derived sequences. Because the molecule is small and hydrophilic, it is typically formulated as an aqueous solution for intranasal or parenteral delivery. Acetylation or amidation at the termini appears in closely related research peptides and shifts the mass by a fixed increment.
Reported pharmacological work centers on neurotrophic signaling, including changes in BDNF and NGF expression in hippocampal tissue in animal models. Human data come largely from studies conducted in Russia, and how well those results generalize to other populations remains an open question. Regulatory status differs sharply by jurisdiction: Semax is a registered prescription medicine in Russia, while it holds no approved marketing status in the United States or the European Union. Outside such jurisdictions it is generally handled as a research chemical, which affects both documentation and quality expectations.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It was developed as a fragment analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone, modeled specifically on the ACTH(4-10) region. The first four residues reproduce that fragment, while a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide is appended at the C-terminus. Work on the compound originated in Russia, where it entered clinical use as an intranasal preparation. Its sequence places it among short regulatory peptides studied for effects on the central nervous system rather than on the adrenal axis.
Published research has focused mainly on neurological and cognitive endpoints in animal models, with proposed mechanisms involving brain-derived neurotrophic factor and related signalling pathways. A substantial share of the human data originates from a limited number of research groups, and independent replication in other countries remains sparse. Regulatory status reflects that distribution: the peptide is registered as a medicine in Russia and appears in some neighbouring markets, while elsewhere it is handled as a research chemical without approved therapeutic labelling. Questions about dose-response relationships, long-term effects, and comparability across studies are still open.
Lyophilised powder is normally kept at -20 °C in a desiccated container, with some suppliers recommending -80 °C for long-term archival storage. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles are the most common cause of avoidable loss, so aliquoting before freezing reduces variability between working sessions. Dissolved peptide is far less stable than the dry solid and is usually prepared fresh or held briefly at 4 °C. Aqueous solutions support both hydrolysis of the backbone and oxidation of the N-terminal methionine, and these two routes dominate degradation under ordinary laboratory conditions.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular weight | ~813.9 Da (free heptapeptide) | N-acetylated form is about 42 Da heavier |
| Residue count | 7 (heptapeptide) | Four residues from ACTH(4-10), three added |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Usually supplied lyophilized |
| Solubility class | Freely soluble in water | Also dissolves in DMSO and polar organic solvents |
| Related parent fragment | ACTH(4-10) | Parent motif is Met-Glu-His-Phe |
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.
Identity and purity are commonly assessed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, with ultraviolet detection near 214 nanometers for the peptide backbone. Mass spectrometry, either electrospray or matrix-assisted laser desorption, confirms molecular mass and detects truncation or modification products. Amino acid analysis can verify composition. Because the sequence contains no strongly absorbing aromatic residue apart from phenylalanine, detection wavelengths are chosen carefully. Purity values above 95 percent are typical for research-grade material.
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.
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.
Proposed mechanisms center on neurotrophic signaling rather than on classical melanocortin receptor activation. Rodent experiments have reported shifts in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor after administration, together with changes in the associated receptor systems. Several authors argue that the peptide acts largely through its degradation products and their interaction with peptidergic pathways, but this remains a hypothesis rather than a settled finding. No single molecular target has been identified in a way that the field broadly accepts.
Published research covers ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment, optic nerve conditions and attention-related measures. Much of the human evidence comes from small trials conducted in one country, which limits how far the results generalize. Animal models supply the larger share of the data, and effects seen in rodents do not transfer automatically to people. Reviews have noted that methodological reporting is often incomplete, making it difficult to pool results or compare treatment schedules across studies.
Since the release of the Source engine SDK, a large number of modifications (mods) have been developed by the Half-Life 2 community. Mods vary in scale, from fan-created levels like Minerva and weapons, to partial conversions such as Rock 24, Half-Life 2 Substance and SMOD (which modify the storyline and gameplay of the pre-existing game), SourceForts and Garry's Mod (which allow the player to experiment with the physics system in a sandbox mode), to total conversions such as Black Mesa, Dystopia, Zombie Master or Iron Grip: The Oppression, the last of which transforms from a first-person shooter into a real-time strategy game. Some mods take place in the Half-Life universe; others in completely original settings. Many more mods are still in development, including Lift, The Myriad, Operation Black Mesa, and Infinite Finality. Several multiplayer mods, such as Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, a predominately sword-fighting game; Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat, which focuses on realistic modern infantry combat; and Jailbreak Source have been opened to the public as a beta. In September 2022, after a decade of development, fans released Half-Life 2: VR Mod, allowing Half-Life 2 to be played in virtual reality. As part of its community support, Valve announced in September 2008 that several mods, with more planned in the future, were being integrated into the Steamworks program, allowing the mods to make full use of Steam's distribution and update capabilities. Half-Life 2 introduced a community workshop as part of their 20th-anniversary update.
The industrial separation processes will be implemented stepwise by annular centrifugal contactors, developed for the first time at Argonne National Laboratory in the 1970s. The countercurrent process consists of the aqueous and organic phases moving continuously in opposite directions stage by stage. The two immiscible liquids enter each contactor unit, first contacted in the annular region between the housing and the spinning rotor and then centrifuged in the inner part of the unit. Two main ways are currently followed within the partitioning strategy: the heterogeneous and homogeneous recycling. All the first European research projects on hydrometallurgical partitioning started within the heterogeneous recycling, since none of the developed extracting agents were able to selectively extract actinides directly downstream of the PUREX process. This led research to develop first multi-stage and multi-cycle processes. A two-cycle process (DIAMide EXtraction + Selective ActiNide EXtraction) was developed for a selective actinide extraction downstream of a first co-extraction (DIAMEX) of actinides and lanthanides. The recent joint research projects point to develop innovative processes with a reduced number of cycles to directly extract minor actinides (americium and curium) from the PUREX raffinate in one cycle, either by a lipophilic extractant (1cycle-SANEX) or by a hydrophilic ligand (innovative-SANEX).
In spite of 2018 election promises that "not a single person will lose their job" under his PC government, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot office announced in June 2019 that 416 workers would be laid off, as 20 health agencies, including 14 local health integration networks (LHINs), Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario were merged into one new super-agency called Ontario Health. With the merger "another 409 vacant positions will be eliminated." These changes are estimated to save "$350 million a year by 2021–22". A CBC News report said that the average wait times in Ontario hospitals set a new June record of an average of 16.3 hours waiting in emergency rooms in 2019, compared to 14.4 hours in June 2018, based on Health Quality Ontario data. More restructuring was announced by the Health ministry in September and no more job losses are anticipated. On November 18, 2024, Ford's government tabled a bill to ban supervised injection sites from operating within 200 meters of a school or child-care centre. The bill would also require municipalities to get approval from the provincial health minister and federal government before launching new facilities. In a news conference for the bill, Health Minister Sylvia Jones stated, "I want to be very clear, there will be no further safe injection sites in the province of Ontario under our government."
== History == Identification of the Rho family of GTPases began in the mid-1980s. The first identified Rho member was RhoA, isolated serendipitously in 1985 from a low stringency cDNA screening. Rac1 and Rac2 were identified next, in 1989 followed by Cdc42 in 1990. Eight additional mammalian Rho members were identified from biological screenings until the late 1990s, a turning point in biology where availability of complete genome sequences allowed full identification of gene families. All eukaryote cells contain Rho GTPase (ranging from 6 in yeast to 20 in mammals). In mammals, the Rho family is thus made of 20 members distributed in 8 subfamilies: Rho, Rnd, RhoD/F, RhoH, Rac, Cdc42, RhoU/V and RhoBTB. As early as 1990, Paterson et al. began expressing activated Rho protein in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. By the mid-1990s, Rho proteins had been observed to affect the formation of cellular projections ("processes") in fibroblasts. In a 1998 review article, Alan Hall compiled evidence showing that not only do fibroblasts form processes upon Rho activation, but so do virtually all eukaryotic cells. A 2006 review article by Bement et al. explored the significance of spatial zones of Rho activation.
=== Reported end of outbreak: August–September 2022 === On 5 August 2022, the country reported that it had not seen a fever case for seven consecutive days, and that every fever case had recovered. On 8 August, plans were announced to convene the Supreme People's Assembly in September, moving its members out of isolation. A separate review meeting to discuss a "change in direction" in pandemic response was also announced. On 11 August, Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, stated that her brother had had a fever, implying that he had COVID-19 at one point. She also blamed South Korea for the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, claiming that it sent contaminated anti-Pyongyang leaflets to spread the disease. North Korean media reports indicate that the population have resumed regular activity. On August 25, several sources told NK News that North Korea could possibly allow foreigners into North Korea for the first time since 2020, likely after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party later in 2022. In September, however, Kim Jong Un flagged the first rollout of vaccines in November and warned that COVID-19 could reappear in the winter months. The mass vaccination program started in the border areas in late September, making North Korea the last country in the world other than Eritrea to have a mass vaccination program against COVID-19.
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== Provisions and effects == The executive order explicitly rescinded 68 executive orders and 11 presidential memoranda from the Biden Administration. It also ordered heads of federal agencies to "take immediate steps to end Federal implementation of unlawful and radical DEI ideology". Additionally the order ordered, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) should review all Federal Government actions taken in accordance to the rescinded orders and take necessary steps to rescind, replace, or amend such actions when appropriate. It also ordered that within 45 days (before March 6), the DPC and NEC Directors should give the President further orders, issued by the prior administration that should be rescinded, as well as a list of "replacement orders, memoranda, or proclamations, to increase American prosperity". Lastly, it ordered the National Security Advisor (NSA) to review all Biden era National Security Memoranda for "harm to national security, domestic resilience, and American values" and within 45 days recommend a list for rescindment. The rescission of Biden's Executive Order 14074 deactivated the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database which tracked federal police misconduct.
Pure obsidian is usually dark in appearance, though the color varies depending on the impurities present. Iron and other transition elements may give the obsidian a dark brown to black color. Most black obsidians contain nanoinclusions of magnetite, an iron oxide. Very few samples of obsidian are nearly colorless. In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals (spherulites) of the mineral cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern (snowflake obsidian). Obsidian may contain patterns of gas bubbles remaining from the lava flow, aligned along layers created as the molten rock was flowing before being cooled. These bubbles can produce interesting effects such as a golden sheen (sheen obsidian). An iridescent, rainbow-like sheen (fire obsidian) is caused by inclusions of magnetite nanoparticles creating thin-film interference. Colorful, striped obsidian (rainbow obsidian) from Mexico contains oriented nanorods of hedenbergite, which cause the rainbow striping effects by thin-film interference.
Transforming food systems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all, In brief, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, FAO. This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from In Brief to The State of Food and Agriculture 2024, FAO, FAO. This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2025, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Aspergillus flavus var. oryzae (キコウジキン / 黄麹菌 'ki kōji-kin'). The growth range of this species includes pH values from below 2 to above 8, a temperature optimum of 32–36 °C, a temperature minimum of 7–9 °C and a temperature maximum of 45–47 °C. The colony color is initially yellow-green, later more or less brown. Aspergillus sojae (醤油麹菌 'shōyu-kōji-kin') Aspergillus tamarii A. oryzae has three α-amylase genes, which allows it to break down starch relatively quickly into glucose. In contrast, A. sojae has only one α-amylase gene under a weak promoter and the CAAT box has a gene expression attenuating mutation (CCAAA instead of CCAAT). In general, A. oryzae has higher levels starch-degrading enzymes (glucosidases) expression than A. sojae. A too-rapid release of glucose from starch at the beginning of fermentation inhibits the growth of the microorganisms in the soy sauce maturation phase, making the slower digestion beneficial to taste. For the breakdown of proteins to amino acids, A. oryzae strain RIB40 has 65 endopeptidase genes and 69 exopeptidase genes, and A. sojae strain SMF134 has 83 endopeptidase genes and 67 exopeptidase genes. Protein-degrading enzymes (proteases) are more strongly expressed in A. sojae than in A. oryzae, consistent with adaptation to protein-rich feed. These genetic differences lead to significant differences in the odor profile. A. sojae has higher enzyme activity of endopolygalacturonase (breaks down plant cell walls) and glutaminase (converts glutamine to glutamate) than A. oryzae. It has 10 glutaminase genes. Various mutants of A.
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Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins (usually abbreviated protein NMR) is a field of structural biology in which NMR spectroscopy is used to obtain information about the structure and dynamics of proteins, and also nucleic acids, and their complexes. The field was pioneered by Richard R. Ernst and Kurt Wüthrich at the ETH, and by Ad Bax, Marius Clore, Angela Gronenborn at the NIH, and Gerhard Wagner at Harvard University, among others. Structure determination by NMR spectroscopy usually consists of several phases, each using a separate set of highly specialized techniques. The sample is prepared, measurements are made, interpretive approaches are applied, and a structure is calculated and validated. NMR involves the quantum-mechanical properties of the central core ("nucleus") of the atom. These properties depend on the local molecular environment, and their measurement provides a map of how the atoms are linked chemically, how close they are in space, and how rapidly they move with respect to each other. These properties are fundamentally the same as those used in the more familiar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but the molecular applications use a somewhat different approach, appropriate to the change of scale from millimeters (of interest to radiologists) to nanometers (bonded atoms are typically a fraction of a nanometer apart), a factor of a million. This change of scale requires much higher sensitivity of detection and stability for long term measurement.
== Writing career == Gaines began publishing short stories in the early 1990s. Her short story The Mouse was selected for The Best of the West 5, one in a series of annual anthologies of short stories, published annually from 1988 to 1992. Her novel Carbon Dreams was published in 2001. Set in the early 1980s, it tells the story of a woman who discovers a way to study climate in the distant past that may have relevance for the climate of the future, and about the scientific, ethical and personal controversies that she inadvertently becomes embroiled in. Elizabeth Wilson, writing in Chemical and Engineering News, called it a "step forward in the evolution of science-in-fiction.... A remarkable job of conveying what it's really like to be a scientist, and to make scientific discoveries - not in the blink of an eye, as television or movies would have it, but with gradually shifting insight." It is considered an early contribution to the Lab lit genre. Gaines's 2020 novel Accidentals is the story of an Uruguayan-American family, noted for its "melding of sensual landscapes with ruminations on political history and environmental devastation" and "critique of globalization." Like Carbon Dreams, it has been recognized as a "rare" and "well-written" example of a realist novel about science and compared to the work of Barbara Kingsolver.
Member, National Teaching School Council and Lead, South-West National Teaching School Council Representative. For services to Education. Chitralekha Bolar. Dancer, Choreographer and Teacher. For services to South Asian Dance. Emily Josephine Bolton. Founder, Our Future. For services to Social Mobility. Thomas Stewart Bosworth. For services to Race Walking. Richard James Bottomley. Headteacher, Bradford Alternative Provision Academy. For services to Vulnerable Children and Young People. James David Boyes. Team UK Gold Medal Winner, WorldSkills UK. For services to Further Education. Nicholas Boys Smith. Founder and Director, Create Streets and Chair, Office for Place. For services to Planning and Design. Samuel James Braddick. For services to the community in Gillingham, Dorset. Mark Richard Brett. For services to Charity and to the community in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Anne Brewster. 50 Plus Lead, Yorkshire and the Humber, Department for Work and Pensions. For services to the Welfare of Older People. Debbie Hazel Brown. Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Director, Lewisham Community Education Provider Network Training Hub. For services to Nursing and the NHS. Joanna Esther Brown (Joanna Cram). Lately Chair, Scottish Osteopathic Society. For services to Musculoskeletal Healthcare in Scotland. Patricia Ann Brown. Director and Founder, Central. For services to the Built Environment. Penelope Jane Brown. For services to Charity and to the community in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Sara Margaret Browne (Sally Browne).
*No known examples The smallest unit forming a homo-oligomer, i.e. one protein chain or subunit, is designated as a monomer, subunit or protomer. The latter term was originally devised to specify the smallest unit of hetero-oligomeric proteins, but is also applied to homo-oligomeric proteins in current literature. The subunits usually arrange in cyclic symmetry to form closed point group symmetries. Although complexes higher than octamers are rarely observed for most proteins, there are some important exceptions. Viral capsids are often composed of multiples of 60 proteins. Several molecular machines are also found in the cell, such as the proteasome (four heptameric rings = 28 subunits), the transcription complex and the spliceosome. The ribosome is probably the largest molecular machine, and is composed of many RNA and protein molecules. In some cases, proteins form complexes that then assemble into even larger complexes. In such cases, one uses the nomenclature, e.g., "dimer of dimers" or "trimer of dimers". This may suggest that the complex might dissociate into smaller sub-complexes before dissociating into monomers. This usually implies that the complex consists of different oligomerisation interfaces. For example, a tetrameric protein may have one four-fold rotation axis, i.e. point group symmetry 4 or C4. In this case the four interfaces between the subunits are identical. It may also have point group symmetry 222 or D2. This tetramer has different interfaces and the tetramer can dissociate into two identical homodimers.
==== Indications ==== Nabilone, marketed under the brand name Cesamet®, is a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It is used to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients who fail to have sufficient response to conventional antiemetic treatments. It is also used to treat anorexia and weight loss in AIDS patients.
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The sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro, a seven-residue peptide. The first four residues correspond to the ACTH(4-10) fragment, and Pro-Gly-Pro is added at the C-terminus. N-acetylated versions also appear in the literature and differ in mass.
Semax is a synthetic analog of the ACTH(4-10) fragment rather than a copy of the full hormone. Truncation plus the added tail removes the steroidogenic portion of ACTH. That distinction explains why it is studied for nervous-system effects instead of adrenal stimulation.
It is registered as a prescription product in Russia and has been used there clinically, chiefly by the intranasal route. No approval exists in the United States or the European Union. Availability elsewhere typically falls under research-chemical distribution, with varying purity documentation.
Reversed-phase HPLC gives the main purity figure, most often with UV detection near 214 nanometres. Mass spectrometry then confirms the molecular mass. Together the two methods distinguish a correct sequence from a closely related impurity.