The short version of nootropic fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2025-12-30. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Development took place during the 1980s at institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where peptide fragments of ACTH were screened for cognitive and neuroprotective effects. The compound received regulatory approval in Russia as a nasal preparation, marketed for conditions such as ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, and optic nerve disorders. Registration in other countries has not followed. Most published clinical reports originate from a small number of Russian research groups, and independent replication outside that setting remains limited. The regulatory status therefore differs sharply between Russia and the rest of the world.
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.
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.
Practical handling follows from those properties. Bulk material is best divided into single-use portions soon after receipt, because each thaw exposes the whole container to moisture and temperature cycling. Vials should be allowed to reach room temperature before opening to prevent condensation on the powder. Low-binding plasticware reduces loss of dilute solutions, and sterile filtration is used when a preparation must remain free of microbial growth. Records of batch number, reconstitution date and storage history are what allow a later analytical result to be interpreted meaningfully.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sequence | Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | Heptapeptide; ACTH(4-10) analog extended at C-terminus |
| Molecular mass | ~813.9 Da | Free peptide, unmodified |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typical lyophilized solid |
| Solubility | Soluble in water and saline | Also soluble in common aqueous buffers |
| Storage (solid) | -20 °C, desiccated | Protect from moisture and repeated thawing |
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.
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.
稳定性主要由水解与氧化两条路径支配。肽键在中性或弱酸性条件下相对稳定，遇到强碱或长时间高温则明显断裂；甲硫氨酸侧链容易被氧化成亚砜，使主峰前移并拉低实际含量。金属离子、光照和反复冻融会进一步促进降解或聚集。冻干粉在低温避光条件下可存放较长时间，配制后的水溶液通常需要冷藏并尽快用完。
纯度评估以反相高效液相色谱为主，通过主峰面积百分比给出粗略结果，再配合电喷雾质谱核对分子量。氨基酸分析可验证组成比例，手性色谱或毛细管电泳用于检查残基构型。常见杂质包括缺失序列的短肽、氧化产物与二聚体。由于多数市售品不附带完整检验报告，独立第三方检测常被用来核实标称值。
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It is described in the literature as an analogue of the ACTH(4–10) fragment, a short N-terminal portion of adrenocorticotropic hormone that retains some neurotropic activity without the full hormonal effects of the parent peptide. The molecule carries a methionine residue at the N-terminus and two proline residues near the C-terminus, features that shape both its interactions with receptor systems and its chemical stability. The free peptide corresponds to the formula C37H51N9O10S and a molecular mass near 813.9 Da.
The compound was developed in the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow, where it emerged from research on short ACTH fragments and their effects on the central nervous system. Russian pharmaceutical listings describe it as a nootropic and neuroprotective agent, most often formulated as nasal drops. It is not a marketed medicine in the United States or the European Union, and no pharmacopoeial monograph covers it. Consequently, most published clinical experience with the substance originates from a small number of research centres, mainly in Russia and neighbouring countries.
HON=NOH + 2 NADH + 2 H+ This systematic name of this enzyme class hydroxylamine:NAD+ oxidoreductase. It is also called NADH2:hyponitrite oxidoreductase. This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically those acting on other nitrogenous compounds as donors with NAD+ or NADP+ as acceptor. It employs one cofactor, metal.
== Treatment and prognosis == The recommended treatment for individuals presenting with localized MFS tumors is radical surgical resection. The resection should include a 2 cm margin of soft tissue surrounding the tumor, with planned resection of the entire area as defined by MRI-detected increased signals on T2-weighted images. This is done to ensure that all tumor tissue is removed in order to avoid the high risks of local recurrences and worsening prognoses. Historically, about 10% of patients treated with radical surgery developed recurrences at the surgical site and a significant number of these patients developed metastatic disease. Consequently, adjuvant radiotherapy has been used to help reduce these recurrences and metastatic transformations. For patients with a limb tumor that cannot be resected (less than 5% of all cases)), limb amputation is the treatment of choice. Recurrent and metastatic MFS first-line treatment has employed two chemotherapy drugs, anthracycline and Ifosfamide, while second-line treatment has employed two other chemotherapy drugs, gemcitabine and paclitaxel. Triple chemotherapy drug treatment (adriamycin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine) has also been used to treat MFS. However, there are no randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of these or other chemotherapy drugs in the treatment of inoperable or metastatic MFS and none of the uncontrolled studies have demonstrated a benefit in improving the overall survival in MFS.
The authors also propose that this technique could be adapted to similar MOF systems and, by increasing pore volumes with increasing linker lengths, larger pi-conjugated reactants can be used to further redshift the absorption wavelengths. Biological imaging using MOFs has been realized by several groups, namely Foucault-Collet and co-workers. In 2013, they synthesized a NIR-emitting Yb3+-NMOF using phenylenevinylene dicarboxylate (PVDC) linkers. They observed cellular uptake in both HeLa cells and NIH-3T3 cells using confocal, visible, and NIR spectroscopy. Although low quantum yields persist in water and Hepes buffer solution, the luminescence intensity is still strong enough to image cellular uptake in both the visible and NIR regimes.
In the Winter of 1869, the Spanish Volunteer Corps of Cuba (Spanish: Cuerpos de Voluntarios de Cuba) compiled a list of Freemasons and other Masons in Cuba. This list was not limited to the revolutionary GOCA Freemasons, it also included members of Colon Freemasonry; the Volunteer Corps and the new Antimasonry movement in Cuba did not distinguish between the two, believing that they were all involved in revolutionary activities. Commander Carlos González Boet rounded-up eighteen people near Santiago de Cuba he suspected of being Freemasons at Fraternidad Lodge No. 1. All through the countryside, he sent men in the middle of the night to kidnap men from their homes, or in the middle of broad daylight on the street. Going into the New Year of 1870, Boet took these men to the San Juan de Wilson sugar mill (Spanish: Ingenio San Juan de Wilson), near El Cobre, where he sentenced them as traitors. On February 13, 14, and 15, 1870, González Boet executed them by gunshot without trial, including the Grand Master of Colon, José Andrés Puente Badell, and Esteban Miniet, the Grand Treasurer of Colon. Other Freemasons were arrested and sent to prison. Commander González Boet was also a Freemason.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Cancers form as a result of gene mutations as well as improper protein translation. In addition to cancer cells proliferating abnormally, they suppress the expression of anti-apoptotic or pro-apoptotic genes or proteins. Most cancer cells see a mutation in the signaling protein Ras, which functions as an on/off signal transductor in cells. In cancer cells, the RAS protein becomes persistently active, thus promoting the proliferation of the cell due to the absence of any regulation. Additionally, most cancer cells carry two mutant copies of the regulator gene p53, which acts as a gatekeeper for damaged genes and initiates apoptosis in malignant cells. In its absence, the cell cannot initiate apoptosis or signal for other cells to destroy it. As the tumor cells proliferate, they either remain confined to one area and are called benign, or become malignant cells that migrate to other areas of the body. Oftentimes, these malignant cells secrete proteases that break apart the extracellular matrix of tissues. This then allows the cancer to enter its terminal stage called Metastasis, in which the cells enter the bloodstream or the lymphatic system to travel to a new part of the body.
== Materials == Microneedles (MNs) consist of micro-sized needles arrays that are made of various materials exhibiting different characteristics and are suitable in the synthesis of different types of MNs. The selection of materials for formation of MNs greatly depends on the strength of skin penetration, manufacturing method, and rate of drug release. Silicon is the first material used for the production of MNs. While the flexible nature of silicon allows easy manufacture of different sizes and types of MNs, silicon MNs can easily fracture during insertion in the skin. On the contrary, MNs made of metals like stainless steel, titanium, and aluminum, are non-toxic and possess strong mechanical properties to penetrate the skin without breakage. Nevertheless, metal MNs may cause allergic effects in some patients and it creates non-biodegradable wastes. Polymer is also regarded as a promising material for MNs due to its good biocompatibility and low toxicity. Water-soluble polymers are more commonly used within the big polymer group and MNs tip breaking is more likely compared to MNs made of silicon and metal. Therefore, polymer is a more suitable material for dissolving MNs or hydrogel-forming MNs.
=== Retinoic acids and photodamage === UV radiation decreases the expression of both retinoic acid receptors and retinoid x receptors in human skin, thereby resulting in a complete loss of the induction of RA-responsive genes. It also leads to an increase in activity of the AP-1 pathway, increasing MMP activity and thus resulting in a functional deficiency of vitamin A in the skin.
Lutetium (177Lu), which decays with the emission of a low-energy electron, is useful for treating some cancerous tumors. Several compounds of 177Lu are available for this purpose: 1) Lutetium chloride, LuCl3, sold under the brand name Lumark among others, is used for radiolabeling other medicines, either as an anti-cancer therapy or for scintigraphy (medical radio-imaging). Its most common side effects are anaemia (low red blood cell counts), thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet counts), leucopenia (low white blood cell counts), lymphopenia (low levels of lymphocytes, a particular type of white blood cell), nausea (feeling sick), vomiting and mild and temporary hair loss. 2) Lutetium (177Lu) oxodotreotide, also known as Lutetium (177Lu) dotatate ("Lutathera"), has been approved for some types of tumors. 3) Lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan ("Pluvicto") has also been approved.
=== Microspheres === Microspheres are hollow, micron-sized carriers often formed via self-assembly of polymeric compounds which are most often used to encapsulate the active drug for delivery. Drug release is often achieved by diffusion through pores in the microsphere structure or by degradation of the microsphere shell. Some of the research currently being done uses advanced assembly techniques, such as precision particle fabrication (PPF), to create microspheres capable of sustained control over drug release.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
Its sequence corresponds to the 4-10 region of corticotropin extended by three residues. This fragment lacks the region responsible for adrenal steroid release, so it is explored for neural rather than hormonal effects. The relationship explains the compound's classification among ACTH-derived peptides.
It holds approval in Russia for several neurological indications as a nasal spray or drop formulation. Regulatory agencies in the United States and the European Union have not approved it. Products sold elsewhere are generally labeled for research use only.
Suppliers normally quote a percentage of total chromatographic peak area, most often from reversed-phase HPLC. That figure says nothing about what the remaining percentage contains, and it depends on the detection wavelength used. A mass spectrometry result is a separate and stronger check on identity.