elevated plus maze raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.
Reviewed 2025-09-04. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
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.
Laboratory work relies on standard behavioral paradigms. Rodents are tested in the elevated plus maze, open field, and passive avoidance tasks, with outcomes compared against diazepam or vehicle controls. Intranasal dosing is used most often because it bypasses first-pass metabolism, though intraperitoneal and intravenous routes also appear in published protocols. Biochemical endpoints include tissue BDNF concentrations, cytokine levels, and monoamine metabolites. Human data are limited to small Russian trials reporting reduced anxiety scores; most were not prospectively registered, and few employed independent outcome assessment.
Measuring peptide exposure inside the brain is technically difficult. Selank is degraded rapidly in plasma, and assays must separate intact peptide from fragments, which favors targeted mass spectrometry over immunoassays alone. Reported half-lives are short, on the order of minutes, so effects observed hours later are attributed to downstream signaling rather than to the parent compound. Blood-brain barrier permeability is debated and rarely quantified directly. Gaps include absent dose-response characterization, inconsistent reporting of purity, and almost no pharmacokinetic data from human participants.
Selank is studied chiefly as an animal-model anxiolytic with proposed secondary effects on memory and immune signaling. Reported mechanisms include modulation of the GABA-A receptor complex, inhibition of enkephalin-degrading enzymes, and shifts in monoamine turnover within limbic structures. Some experiments describe increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus after repeated dosing. No single molecular target has been confirmed, and the peptide does not bind any receptor with the selectivity typical of a conventional small-molecule drug. Mechanism therefore remains a set of hypotheses rather than an established pathway.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C33H57N11O9 | Derived from the seven-residue sequence |
| Molecular weight | About 751.9 g/mol | Average mass; the monoisotopic value is slightly lower |
| Residue count | Seven amino acids | Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro |
| Parent compound | Tuftsin (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg) | Selank extends tuftsin at the C-terminus |
| Compound class | Synthetic short peptide | Studied in a research setting; not a licensed drug in most markets |
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, frequently abbreviated as TKPRPGP. It was designed as a structural analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide released by enzymatic cleavage of the immunoglobulin heavy chain. The two additional proline residues at the C-terminal end extend the parent chain and change how the molecule behaves in solution. The free peptide has a calculated molecular mass of approximately 751.9 g/mol and is generally supplied as a lyophilised white to off-white powder.
Development work on the compound began in the 1980s and 1990s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow, within the same research programme that produced the peptide Semax. Early investigators sought a tuftsin derivative with improved resistance to enzymatic breakdown and with activity in the central nervous system after peripheral administration. Most of the primary literature from this period was published in Russian, a factor that still shapes how easily the findings can be checked by outside groups.
Naming for this compound is not fully standardised in English sources. The spelling Selanc appears in some transliterations, and catalogue entries may instead list the peptide sequence itself as the identifier. Reference material sometimes groups it with other short synthetic peptides studied for behavioural effects, which can create confusion when citations are compared. Distinguishing the exact sequence from related tuftsin analogues is therefore a practical first step when reviewing any dataset or specification sheet.
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.
=== Companies === To translate his discoveries into therapeutics, Verdine has founded or co-founded numerous public biotech companies including Variagenics, Enanta, Eleven Bio, Tokai, Wave Life Sciences, and Aileron. He also founded the private company Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Celgene in 2009. His companies share the mission of developing molecules intended to target “hard-to-drug” endogenous targets that have remained out of reach of modern cell-penetration technologies.
Just behind Piazza Castello stands the Turin Cathedral, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, which is the major church of the city. It was built during 1491–1498 and is adjacent to an earlier bell tower (1470). Annexed to the cathedral is the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, the current resting place of the Shroud of Turin. The chapel was added to the structure in 1668–1694, designed by Guarini. The Basilica of Corpus Domini was built to celebrate an alleged miracle which took place during the sack of the city in 1453, when a soldier was carrying off a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament; the monstrance fell to the ground, while the host remained suspended in air. The present church, erected in 1610 to replace the original chapel which stood on the spot, is the work of Ascanio Vitozzi.
This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 12 November 2022, following the conclusion of Ukraine's Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives, to 7 June 2023, the day before the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive began. Russia continued its strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure while the battle of Bakhmut escalated.
=== Breast cancer === Pregnancy has a positive effect on the prognosis of breast cancer according to several studies and it apparently increases the chance of survival after diagnosis of breast cancer. Possible positive effects of pregnancy could be explained by the persistence of fetal cells in the blood and maternal tissues. Fetal cells are probably actively migrating from peripheral blood into the tumor tissue where they are preferentially settled in the tumor stroma and one their concentration decreases as they get closer to the healthy breast tissue. There are two suggested mechanisms by which the fetal cells could have the positive effect on the breast cancer prognosis. The first mechanism suggests that fetal cells only oversee cancer cells and they attract components of the immune system if needed. The second option is that the down-regulation of the immune system induced by the presence of fetal cells could ultimately lead to cancer prevention, because women in whom FMC is present produce lower concentrations of inflammatory mediators, which may lead to the development of neoplastic tissue. The effect also depends on the level of microchimerism: Hyperchimerism (a high rate of microchimerism) and hypochimerism (a low rate of microchimerism) can be related to the negative effect of FMC and thus can promote a worse prognosis of breast cancer. Apparently, women with breast cancer may fail in the process of obtaining and maintaining allogeneic fetal cells.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Sudomotor function refers to the autonomic nervous system control of sweat gland activity in response to various environmental and individual factors. Sweat production is a vital thermoregulatory mechanism used by the body to prevent heat-related illness as the evaporation of sweat is the body's most effective method of heat reduction and the only cooling method available when the air temperature rises above skin temperature. In addition, sweat plays key roles in grip, microbial defense, and wound healing.
Use of this detection method is primarily found in the electrowetting of dielectric DMFs, where the sensing electrode apparatus can be reconfigurable and has a longer lifetime while still producing accurate results.
that GABAA receptors containing the δ-subunit are sensitive to ethanol modulation, depending on subunit combinations receptors could be more or less sensitive to ethanol. It has been shown that GABAA receptors that contain both δ and β3-subunits display increased sensitivity to ethanol. One such receptor that exhibits ethanol insensitivity is α3-β6-δ GABAA. It has also been shown that subunit combination is not the only thing that contributes to ethanol sensitivity. Location of GABAA receptors within the synapse may also contribute to ethanol sensitivity. Ro15-4513, a close analogue of the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil (Ro15-1788), has been found to bind to the same site as ethanol and to competitively displace it in a saturable manner. In addition, Ro15-4513 blocked the enhancement of δ subunit-containing GABAA receptor currents by ethanol in vitro. In accordance, the drug has been found to reverse many of the behavioral effects of low-to-moderate doses of ethanol in rodents, including its effects on anxiety, memory, motor behavior, and self-administration. Taken together, these findings suggest a binding site for ethanol on subpopulations of the GABAA receptor with specific subunit compositions via which it interacts with and potentiates the receptor.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
==== United States ==== 2C-EF is not an explicitly controlled substance in the United States. However, it could be considered a controlled substance under the Federal Analogue Act if intended for human consumption.
Milk production can be induced in transgender women by the use of hormone medication, usually a galactagogue similarly to induced lactation in cisgender women, with domperidone being a common choice. Induced lactation without the use of galactagogues has also been demonstrated in at least two cases using a modified feminizing hormone therapy featuring progesterone and nipple stimulation, with eventual successful production of breast milk. In one case report, a transgender woman was able to produce 7 mL of milk per day with hormone treatment. A different transgender woman was able to produce 8 oz of milk per day achieving "sufficient breast milk volume to be the sole source of nourishment for her child for six weeks." Several studies analyzing milk samples from trans women have found them to contain nutrients within parameters suitable for nursing. A 2018 survey of medical professionals with attending a WPATH event where 34% of the surveyed professionals had met a transgender patient expressing interest in induced lactation, 21% of them knew of providers who facilitated lactation for transgender patients, and 9% had themselves helped trans women induce lactation.
It was held on his 56th birthday, on 22 October 2005, in a league match against Manchester City. Wenger was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006, along with former England manager Ron Greenwood. Furthermore, a commissioned bronze bust of Wenger, similar to the earlier version of Herbert Chapman, was unveiled as a tribute to him by the board of directors of Arsenal, at the club's annual general meeting in October 2007. Wenger had an asteroid, 33179 Arsènewenger, named after him by astronomer Ian P. Griffin, who states Arsenal as his favourite football club. In May 2016, the Stade Arsène Wenger was officially opened near Strasbourg, where Wenger was born. The stadium is the new home of USL Dippinheim and holds a capacity of 500 people. In July 2023, Arsenal unveiled an official statue of Wenger holding the "Invincible" Premier League trophy outside the Emirates Stadium, joining the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, and Herbert Chapman to be commemorated in such a way outside the stadium.
==== Social issues ==== Larson has consistently voted both to legalize same-sex marriage and to expand options for legal abortion. He voted to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and in favor of the Sexual Orientation Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). The Human Rights Campaign gave Larson a rating of 94%. Larson voted against ending federal funding to Planned Parenthood; consequently, both Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice American gave him a rating of 100%.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
Tuftsin contains four residues, while selank carries an additional Pro-Gly-Pro segment at the carboxyl end. That extension is intended to reduce enzymatic cleavage. Comparative pharmacokinetic data in humans remain limited.
No single receptor target is widely accepted as the definitive mediator of the reported effects. Proposed contributors include GABAergic modulation, shifts in monoamine turnover, and altered neuropeptide degradation. The mechanism is treated in the literature as unresolved.
Intranasal administration predominates in both animal and human research because it avoids hepatic first-pass metabolism. Injectable and intraperitoneal routes appear in animal work mainly for comparison.