The short version of counterion fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
This page was last updated on 2026-01-27 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
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.
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.
Verification of a supplied batch generally combines a certificate of analysis with independent testing, because certificates are self-reported documents. A typical package includes a chromatographic trace, a mass spectrum, and a stated water or counter-ion content. Batch-to-batch consistency matters more than a single purity figure when results are compared across experiments. No single mandatory standard governs research-grade peptide release, so laboratories are expected to define their own acceptance criteria. Residual trifluoroacetate from purification is a frequently overlooked counter-ion.
Lyophilized material is chemically stable for extended periods when kept dry, cold, and protected from light. The powder is hygroscopic, so vials should be warmed to room temperature before opening to reduce condensation on the contents. Once dissolved, the peptide is far less stable because peptide bonds are susceptible to hydrolysis and the methionine residue can oxidize. Solutions are typically aliquoted and held at 2-8 °C for short intervals or frozen for longer ones, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles should be avoided.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide (ACTH fragment analog) | Not a steroid; does not belong to the melanocortin agonist drugs by marketing category |
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S (commonly cited) | Reported values vary slightly with salt and counter-ion content |
| Appearance | White to off-white lyophilized powder | A single batch may appear as a loose cake or fluffy solid |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water and aqueous buffer | Stock solutions are usually prepared in sterile water or saline |
| Typical storage | −20 °C or below, desiccated and protected from light | Seal opened vials promptly to limit moisture uptake |
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.
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.
Identity and purity are confirmed with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, typically monitored at 214 nanometres where the peptide bond absorbs. Mass spectrometry, either electrospray or MALDI-TOF, verifies molecular mass against the theoretical value and detects truncation or adduct formation. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping provide additional confirmation when required. The most frequently reported impurities are deletion sequences from incomplete coupling, methionine sulfoxide from oxidation, and dimeric species formed through non-covalent aggregation. Impurity profiles depend strongly on the synthesis and purification route chosen by the producer.
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.
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.
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.
Semax is supplied as a lyophilized powder that appears white to off-white. It dissolves readily in water, phosphate-buffered saline, and other aqueous media, which simplifies preparation of working solutions for laboratory use. The nasal products registered in Russia are dilute aqueous solutions, typically around 0.1 percent peptide by weight. Organic solvents are rarely necessary and can complicate handling. Because the peptide is hygroscopic, weighing should be performed quickly and with minimal exposure to ambient humidity.
The study of the effect of infectious agents on metabolism is still in its early stages. Gut flora has been shown to differ between lean and obese people. There is an indication that gut flora can affect the metabolic potential. This apparent alteration is believed to confer a greater capacity to harvest energy contributing to obesity. Whether these differences are the direct cause or the result of obesity has yet to be determined unequivocally. The use of antibiotics among children has also been associated with obesity later in life. An association between viruses and obesity has been found in humans and several different animal species. The amount that these associations may have contributed to the rising rate of obesity is yet to be determined.
=== Acting female viceregal representatives === This list includes women appointed as viceregal representatives in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed a vacated office on a temporary basis under the terms of a dormant commission.
Around the 1930s plant nutritionists investigated diseases of certain plants, and thereby, observed symptoms related to existing soil conditions such as salinity or nutrient deficiency. In this context, water culture experiments were undertaken with the hope of delivering similar symptoms under controlled laboratory conditions. This approach forced by Dennis Robert Hoagland led to innovative model systems (e.g., green algae Nitella) and standardized nutrient recipes playing an increasingly important role in modern plant physiology. In 1929, William Frederick Gericke of the University of California at Berkeley began publicly promoting that the principles of solution culture be used for agricultural crop production. He first termed this cultivation method "aquiculture" created in analogy to "agriculture" but later found that the cognate term aquaculture was already applied to culture of aquatic organisms. Gericke created a sensation by growing tomato vines twenty-five feet (7.6 metres) high in his backyard in mineral nutrient solutions rather than soil. He then introduced the term Hydroponics, water culture, in 1937, proposed to him by W. A. Setchell, a phycologist with an extensive education in the classics. Hydroponics is derived from neologism υδρωπονικά (derived from Greek ύδωρ=water and πονέω=cultivate), constructed in analogy to γεωπονικά (derived from Greek γαία=earth and πονέω=cultivate), geoponica, that which concerns agriculture, replacing, γεω-, earth, with ὑδρο-, water.
==== Viral antigens ==== For virus-associated tumors, such as cervical cancer and a subset of head and neck cancers, epitopes derived from viral open reading frames contribute to the pool of neoantigens.
== Taxonomy == FishBase recognizes four species in the genus. In addition to these, evidence suggests that a fifth species, A. arapaima, should be recognized (this being the widespread, well-known species, otherwise included in A. gigas).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Treatment == There is no cure for HCP caused by the deficient activity of coproporphyrinogen oxidase. Treatment of the acute symptoms of HCP is the same as for other acute porphyrias. Intravenous hemin (as heme arginate or hematin) is the recommended therapy for acute attacks. Acute attacks can be severe enough to cause death if not treated quickly and correctly. Hospitalization is typically required for administration of hemin, and appropriate drug selection is key to avoid exacerbating symptoms with drugs that interact poorly with porphyrias. Proper drug selection is most difficult when it comes to treatment of the seizures that can accompany HCP, as most anti-seizure medications can make the symptoms worse. Gabapentin and levetiracetam are two anti-seizure drugs that are thought to be safe. In patients where management of symptoms is difficult even with hemin, liver transplant is an option before the symptoms have progressed to advanced paralysis. Combined liver and kidney transplants are sometimes undertaken in people with kidney failure. Long-term treatment of acute porphyrias is centered on the avoidance of acute attacks by eliminating precipitating factors, such as drugs, dietary changes, and infections. Females often have attacks coincident with their menstrual cycle, which can be managed effectively with hormonal birth control. Because of the reduced penetrance of HCP, family members of a patient may carry the same mutation without ever presenting with symptoms.
=== Post-World War II === Bektashism continued to flourish until the Second World War. After the communists took power in 1945, several babas and dervishes were executed and a gradual constriction of Bektashi influence began. Ultimately, in 1967 all tekkes were shut down when Enver Hoxha banned all religious practice. When the ban was rescinded in 1990, the Bektashism reestablished itself, although there were few left with any real knowledge of the spiritual path. Nevertheless, many tekkes (lodges) operate today in Albania. The most recent head of the order in Albania was Hajji Dedebaba Reshat Bardhi (1935–2011) and the main tekke has been reopened in Tirana. In June 2011, Baba Edmond Brahimaj was chosen as the head of the Bektashi Order by a council of Albanian babas. Today, sympathy for the Order is generally widespread in Albania where approximately 20% to 25% of Muslims self-report as having some connection to Bektashism. Despite the negative effect of Turkey's ban on lodges on Bektashi life, most contemporary Turkish Bektashis have been generally supportive of the country's Kemalist secularism, since Ataturk's reforms have lessened the religious intolerance historically demonstrated towards the community by the Sunni religious establishment during Ottoman times.
== Structure == The catalytic subunits of protein kinases are highly conserved, and the structures of over 280 of the approximately 494 kinase domains from 481 human genes have been determined, leading to large screens to develop kinase-specific inhibitors for the treatments of a number of diseases. Humans have only 437 kinase domains that have catalytic activity; the rest are pseudokinases or catalyze other reactions. Eukaryotic protein kinases are enzymes that belong to a very extensive family of proteins which share a conserved catalytic core common with both serine/threonine and tyrosine protein kinases. The domain consists of two sub-domains referred to as the N- and C-terminal domains. The N-terminal domain consists of five beta sheet strands and an alpha helix called the C-helix, and the C-terminal domain usually consists of six alpha helices (labeled D, E, F, G, H, and I). The C-terminal domain contains two long loops, called the catalytic loop and the activation loop, which are essential for catalytic activity. The catalytic loop includes the "HRD motif" (for the amino acid sequence His-Arg-Asp), whose aspartic acid residue interacts directly with the hydroxyl group of the target serine, threonine, or tyrosine residue that is phosphorylated. The activation loop starts with the DFG motif (for the amino acid sequence Asp-Phe-Gly), which helps to bind ATP and magnesium in the active site. Broadly, the state or conformation of the kinase may be classified as DFGin or DFGout, depending on whether the Asp residue of the DFG motif is in or out of the active site.
The study Fat Grafting to the Breast Revisited: Safety and Efficacy (2007) indicates that the autologous fat was harvested by liposuction with a 10-ml. syringe attached to a two-hole Coleman harvesting cannula; after centrifugation, the refined breast filler-fat was transferred to 3-ml. syringes. Blunt infiltration cannulas were used to inject the body-fat through 2-mm. incisions; the blunt cannula injection method allowed greater dispersion of small aliquots (equal measures) of body-fat, and reduced the possibility of intravascular fat injection. The 2-mm. incisions were positioned to allow the injection of the fat-grafts from two injection sites; a 0.2 ml fat volume was injected with each withdrawal of the cannula. The breast-contours were realized by layering the fat-grafts at different levels within the breast hemisphere. The fat-graft injection technique allows the plastic surgeon to accurately define the contour of the breast — from the chest wall to the breast-skin envelope— with subcutaneous fat-grafts to the superficial planes of the breast. The greater control in sculpting the contour of the breast is unlike the global augmentation realised with an implant below the breast or below the pectoralis major muscle, respectively expanding the retromammary space and the retropectoral space. The greatest proportion of the grafted fat usually is infiltrated to the pectoralis major muscle, then to the retropectoral space, and to the prepectoral space (before and behind the pectoralis major muscle).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Earle (1990), dean of Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College at Louisiana State University Melissa Michelson (1990), dean of arts and sciences at Menlo College Melanie Jacobs (1991), dean of the University of Louisville School of Law and Michigan State University College of Law Ashish Jha (1992), dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former professor of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Sarah Bunin Benor (1997), vice provost of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, recipient of 2019 Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature
== History == In 1889, German physiologist Max Verworn applied a low-level direct current to a mixture of bacterial species and observed that some moved toward the anode and others moved to the cathode. Two years later, in 1891, Belgian microscopist E. Dineur made the first known report of vertebrate cells migrating directionally in a direct current, a phenomenon which he coined galvanotaxis. Dineur used a zinc–copper cell to apply a constant current to the abdominal cavity of a frog via a pair of platinum electrodes. He found that inflammatory leukocytes aggregated at the negative electrode. Since these pioneering studies, a variety of different cell types and organisms have been shown to respond to electric fields.
For example, in an invited address to the Indian parliament in December 2010, Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor of Economics and Law at the Columbia University analysed the relationship between growth and poverty reduction, then urged the Indian parliament to extend economic reforms by freeing up of the retail sector, further liberalisation of trade in all sectors, and introducing labour market reforms. Such reforms Professor Bhagwati argued will accelerate economic growth and make a sustainable difference in the life of India's poorest., A 2007 report noted that an increasing number of people in India are turning to the services sector for employment due to the relative low compensation offered by the traditional agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The organised retail market is growing at 35 percent annually while growth of unorganised retail sector is pegged at 6 percent. The Retail Business in India is currently at the point of inflection. As of 2008, rapid change with investments to the tune of US$25 billion were being planned by several Indian and multinational companies in the next 5 years. It is a huge industry in terms of size and according to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), it is valued at about US$395.96 billion. Organised retail is expected to garner about 16-18 percent of the total retail market (US$65–75 billion) in the next 5 years. India has topped the A.T. Kearney's annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for the third consecutive year, maintaining its position as the most attractive market for retail investment.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
It was developed in the Soviet Union during the early 1980s by groups at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow. Russian approval for intranasal use followed, and it has been marketed there since. Western laboratories encountered it mainly through translated literature and, later, through online research-chemical trade.
It holds a Russian registration as a prescription nasal product but has no approval from the European Medicines Agency or the United States Food and Drug Administration. Buyers outside Russia usually receive material sold strictly for laboratory research. That distinction matters because research-grade and pharmaceutical-grade products carry different documentation and testing expectations.
Dry powder is normally held at -20 °C or lower, away from light and moisture. Sealed vials can also be kept at 2-8 °C for shorter intervals. Warming to room temperature before opening prevents condensation.