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Selank Origin And Chemical Identity — 2026 Update

By Editorial Desk · published 2026-03-18 · last reviewed 2026-04-16 · Topic

If you have been reading about Selank and want a single page that covers the useful parts, this is it: definitions, context, how it is studied, and the questions that come up repeatedly.

Last reviewed on 2026-04-16. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.

Selank Origin and Chemical Identity

The compound has a calculated molecular weight near 751.9 daltons and carries a net positive charge at physiological pH because of its arginine residue. It dissolves freely in water and in common aqueous buffers, and typically appears as a white or off-white lyophilized powder. The amide backbone makes the molecule susceptible to peptidases, which limits oral use and favors intranasal or parenteral routes. Nomenclature in the literature varies: the substance is also described by the sequence abbreviation TP-7 and by a Russian trade designation.

Regulatory status differs sharply by region. Selank holds a Russian marketing authorization, where it is supplied mainly as nasal drops, while authorities elsewhere have not approved it for medical use. Material sold internationally is therefore usually labeled as a research chemical rather than a medicine. Peer-reviewed publications come predominantly from Russian laboratories, and sample sizes are generally small. Whether the compound produces comparable effects under independent, well-controlled replication remains an open question that the broader literature has not settled.

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide developed in Russia as a structural analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring immunomodulatory tetrapeptide. Its sequence, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, keeps the tuftsin core at the N-terminus and appends a Pro-Gly-Pro tail. Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow synthesized the compound during the 1990s while searching for peptides with combined anxiolytic and immunomodulatory activity. The added tail was intended to resist enzymatic cleavage and prolong the molecule's presence in circulation.

Selank Background and Peptide Chemistry

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro. It was designed as a stabilized analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide fragment derived from the immunoglobulin heavy chain. The additional Pro-Gly-Pro segment at the carboxyl terminus is intended to slow enzymatic cleavage. The compound is usually described in the literature as a synthetic peptide with anxiolytic and cognitive-related activity, a label that reflects a research context rather than an approved therapeutic category.

Most published work on selank originates from a small number of research groups in the Russian Federation. A large share of that record appears in Russian-language journals, which limits access for readers who rely on English-indexed databases. Independent replication by laboratories outside the original research network is sparse in publicly available sources. This concentration of origin and language is a frequently noted feature when the compound is summarized in broader reviews of synthetic peptides.

Reported pharmacological effects center on reduced anxiety-like behavior in animal models and on measures of memory and learning. Proposed contributing mechanisms include modulation of GABAergic signaling, shifts in monoamine turnover, and changes in the activity of enzymes that degrade neuropeptides. Effects on the expression of genes linked to neuroplasticity have also been described. No single molecular target is widely accepted, and whether the behavioral findings arise from one pathway or several remains an open question.

Selank at a glance

PropertyValueNotes
Chemical classSynthetic heptapeptideAnalog of the tetrapeptide tuftsin
SequenceThr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-ProReported consistently across pharmacopoeial descriptions
AppearanceWhite to off-white lyophilized powderTypical form of research-grade material
SolubilityFreely soluble in waterAqueous buffers; poor in nonpolar solvents
Typical storage temperature-20 degrees CelsiusLyophilized powder; protect from moisture

Origins and Proposed Mechanisms

Proposed mechanisms centre on modulation of the GABAergic system, with reports of altered expression of genes related to GABA-A receptor subunits and changed monoamine turnover. Some studies describe inhibition of enkephalinase, the enzyme that degrades endogenous enkephalins, which may prolong opioid peptide signalling. Effects on brain-derived neurotrophic factor and on cytokine expression have also been reported. These findings come largely from animal models and small human studies, and the precise primary target remains unresolved.

Published clinical evidence is limited. Most controlled trials were conducted in Russia, enrolled modest numbers of participants, and appeared in Russian-language journals, which restricts independent verification. Reported outcomes include lower anxiety scores, improved attention and memory measures, and changes in fatigue ratings. Reviews written in English note methodological limitations such as small samples and inconsistent endpoints. Whether the compound produces clinically meaningful benefit relative to established anxiolytics is therefore an open question rather than an established finding.

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro. It was designed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a structural analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide fragment of the immunoglobulin heavy chain. The added Pro-Gly-Pro tail was intended to slow enzymatic degradation and extend biological activity. In Russia it is registered as an anxiolytic nasal preparation, while regulators elsewhere have not approved it for clinical use.

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Administration, Testing and Availability

Outside its country of origin the compound is generally handled as a research chemical rather than an approved medicine. No regulatory approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency has been granted for human use. Identity and purity are normally checked by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, with mass spectrometry used to confirm the molecular mass. Lyophilised material is stored cold and desiccated, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided.

Published work on this peptide almost always uses intranasal delivery, with drops or a spray applied to the nasal mucosa. Some animal experiments have used subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injection, and a smaller number have compared routes directly. Oral administration is not a focus of the literature, because short peptides of this size are broken down by digestive enzymes and cross intestinal barriers poorly. How much of an intranasal dose reaches the bloodstream intact in humans remains an open question.

Animal studies have examined behaviour in tests of anxiety, memory retention and stress response, and several report changes in neurotrophic or neurotransmitter-related markers. The human evidence base is much smaller, consisting mainly of short trials conducted in Russia with limited reporting in English-language journals. Sample sizes are modest and outcome measures vary between studies, so the findings are best described as preliminary. Independent replication under modern trial standards has not been widely reported.

Peptide Identity and Structure

Selank is not a naturally occurring peptide and has no known endogenous counterpart in human physiology. Russian-language sources frequently call it TP-7, while English-language sources use the name Selank almost exclusively. Database indexing is uneven, partly because early reports appeared in regional journals that are not widely cataloged. Some summaries describe the material as a tuftsin analog and others as a synthetic heptapeptide; the labels overlap rather than conflict. Citing the primary sequence resolves ambiguity more reliably than the research or trade name alone.

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, written TKPRPGP in one-letter notation. Its structure consists of the immunomodulatory tetrapeptide tuftsin, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg, extended at the carboxyl terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro segment. The molecular formula is commonly given as C33H57N11O9, corresponding to a monoisotopic mass near 751.4 Da and an average molecular mass near 751.9 Da. All seven residues are proteinogenic amino acids, and the molecule carries no modified side chains or non-natural linkages.

Background from the literature

== Medical use == Silicone gel sheeting is the gold-standard and non-invasive treatment for hypertrophic and keloid scars. During skin injury repair, dermal cells proliferate and migrate from the skin tissue to the wound, producing collagen and causing contraction of the placement dermis. These scars are proliferative due to chronic inflammation and overproduction of abnormal collagen. Common clinical presentations of these scars are raised, thickened, red, or dark-colored. Patients may also experience pain and itching. Hypertrophic scars are elevated scars that remain in the region of the original lesion following mechanical traumas, burns, and necrotizing infections. These scars typically develop in locations under tension, such as shoulders, ankles, knees, and the neck. Hypertrophic scars are generally confined to the boundaries of the original wound and tend to diminish over time.

=== Absolute glaucoma === Absolute glaucoma (H44.5) is the end stage of all types of glaucoma. The eye has no vision, absence of pupillary light reflex and pupillary response, and has a stony appearance. Severe pain is present in the eye. The treatment of absolute glaucoma is a destructive procedure, like cyclocryoapplication, cyclophotocoagulation, or injection of 99% alcohol.

=== Immune cells and inflammatory signaling === Macrophages present in the lesion environment differentiate into Multinucleated Giant Cells after prolonged activation. Secreted matrix metalloproteinases degrade collagen and fuel necrobiosis in response to immune activation. T cells, prominent in NL (Th-1 type cytokines) inhibit healing by the production of IFN-γ, suppressing M2 repair. These factors suggest a link to autoimmune conditions, as these factors explain a pro-inflammatory feedback loop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Further detail

== Bibliography == Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. doi:10.1016/C2009-0-30414-6. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8. Penneman, R. A. and Keenan T. K. The radiochemistry of americium and curium, University of California, Los Alamos, California, 1960 Wiberg, Nils (2007). Lehrbuch Der Anorganischen Chemie. De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-017770-1.

The panel has come to some controversy, however; on July 20, 2010, one of the panelists was discovered to have been a paid speaker for GlaxoSmithKline, arousing questions of a conflict of interest. This panel member was one of the three who voted to keep Avandia on the market with no additional warning labels. In 2011 the FDA has decided on revising its prescribing information and medication guides for all rosilitazone containing medicines. The US label for rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) and all rosiglitazone-containing medications (Avandamet and Avandaryl) now include the additional safety information and restrictions. The revised labels restrict use to patients already taking a rosiglitazone-containing medicine or to new patients who are unable to achieve adequate glycemic control on other diabetes medications and to those, who in consultation with their healthcare provider, have decided not to take Actos (pioglitazone) or other pioglitazone-containing medicines for medical reasons. In June 2013 an FDA Advisory Committee reviewed all available data, including a re-adjudicated RECORD trial, found no evidence of increased cardiovascular risk with Avandia, and voted to remove the restrictions on Avandia marketing in the United States. In November 2013, the US FDA removed these marketing restrictions on the product. Under the FDA's instruction, Avandia's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, had funded the Duke Clinical Research Institute to re-analyze the raw data from the study.

It is worth mentioning that the pharmacokinetics of quisqualic acid has not been extensively studied and there is sparse information available on its ADME process. Therefore, more research is needed to fully understand the metabolism of the acid in the body.

where K is the area of the quadrilateral and s is its semiperimeter. For a tangential quadrilateral with given sides, the inradius is maximum when the quadrilateral is also cyclic (and hence a bicentric quadrilateral). In terms of the tangent lengths, the incircle has radius

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Supporting material

The medication is used to treat clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common histological subtype. The treatment phase is continuing treatment beyond three months. The patient has been issued an authority prescription for pazopanib. The patient must have stable or responding disease according to the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumours (RECIST). This treatment must be the sole tyrosine kinase inhibitor subsidised for this condition. Pazopanib has also demonstrated initial therapeutic properties in patients with aggressive fibromatosis (desmoid tumor), ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer. However, plans to apply to the EMA for a variation to include advanced ovarian cancer have been withdrawn and a license will not be sought in any country.

===== Legal categorization and legal issues in a near future ===== Currently, both miRNA and SiRNA are currently chemically synthesized and so, are legally categorized inside EU and in USA as "simple" medicinal products. But as bioengineered siRNA (BERAs) are in development, these would be classified as biological medicinal products, at least in EU. The development of the BERAs technology raises the question of the categorization of drugs having the same mechanism of action but being produced chemically or biologically. This lack of consistency should be addressed.

=== Solvent extraction and complexation chemistry === The liquid-liquid extraction for the selective actinide partitioning (SANEX-like processes) consists of an organic phase, containing an extracting agent dissolved in a suitable solvent mixture, and an aqueous phase, containing the irradiated fuel dissolution in hot nitric acid. The two phases are vigorously mixed to promote the extraction kinetics. The centrifugation process is performed to favour the phase separation and the transfer of the formed complexes from the depleted aqueous phase (raffinate) into the organic phase (extract) where they result more soluble. This solvent separation can be performed by neutral extracting agents dissolved in the solvent. As can be seen in the equation, the solvating ligand (L) extracts the interested metal cation (M) together with its anion (A). The products of this reaction represent all the potential complexes that can form during an extraction process such as

Organisms have thousands of genes, and in sexually reproducing organisms these genes generally assort independently of each other. This means that the inheritance of an allele for yellow or green pea color is unrelated to the inheritance of alleles for white or purple flowers. This phenomenon, known as "Mendel's law of independent assortment, means that the alleles of different genes get shuffled between parents to form offspring with many different combinations. Different genes often interact to influence the same trait. In the Blue-eyed Mary (Omphalodes verna), for example, there exists a gene with alleles that determine the color of flowers: blue or magenta. Another gene, however, controls whether the flowers have color at all or are white. When a plant has two copies of this white allele, its flowers are white—regardless of whether the first gene has blue or magenta alleles. This interaction between genes is called epistasis, with the second gene epistatic to the first. Many traits are not discrete features (e.g. purple or white flowers) but are instead continuous features (e.g. human height and skin color). These complex traits are products of many genes. The influence of these genes is mediated, to varying degrees, by the environment an organism has experienced. The degree to which an organism's genes contribute to a complex trait is called heritability. Measurement of the heritability of a trait is relative—in a more variable environment, the environment has a bigger influence on the total variation of the trait.

=== Negotiations fail === Steyn of the Orange Free State invited Milner and Kruger to attend a conference in Bloemfontein. The conference started on 30 May 1899, but negotiations quickly broke down, as Kruger had no intention of granting meaningful concessions, and Milner had no intention of accepting his normal delaying tactics. On 9 October 1899, after convincing the Orange Free State to join him and mobilising their forces, Kruger issued an ultimatum giving Britain 48 hours to withdraw troops from the border of Transvaal, despite the fact the only regular British troops near the border of either republic were 4 companies deployed to defend Kimberley. Otherwise, the Transvaal, allied with the Orange Free State, would declare war. News of the ultimatum reached London on the day it expired. The editor of the Times purportedly laughed out loud when he read it, saying 'an official document is seldom amusing and useful yet this was both'. The Times denounced the ultimatum as an 'extravagant farce' and The Globe denounced this 'trumpery little state'. Most editorials were similar to the Daily Telegraph's, which declared: 'of course there can only be one answer to this grotesque challenge. Kruger has asked for war and war he must have!' Such views were far from those of the British government and the army. Army reform had been a matter of pressing concern since the 1870s, put off because the public did not want the expense of a larger, more professional army and because a large home army was not politically welcome.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Frequently asked questions

What is Selank?

Selank is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide modeled on tuftsin, a fragment of the immunoglobulin G heavy chain. It was designed in Russia to combine anxiolytic and immunomodulatory properties in one molecule.

How does it relate to tuftsin?

The first four residues of Selank reproduce the tuftsin sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg. A Pro-Gly-Pro extension at the C-terminus was added to slow enzymatic breakdown and extend residence time.

Is Selank an approved medicine?

It holds marketing authorization in Russia, where nasal drop formulations are sold. No equivalent approval exists in the European Union, the United States, or most other countries.

What is selank?

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, designed as a metabolically stabilized analogue of the endogenous tetrapeptide tuftsin. It has been studied mainly against anxiety-related and cognitive endpoints rather than as an approved medicine in most jurisdictions.

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