The short version of tuftsin fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
This page was last updated on 2026-01-22 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Enzymatic stability motivates the extra three residues at the carboxyl end. Native tuftsin is cleaved quickly by circulating aminopeptidases and carboxypeptidases, which limits its duration of action and its usefulness as a tool compound. Extending the chain with proline-rich segments is a common design tactic because proline constrains the backbone and slows proteolysis. The same Pro-Gly-Pro motif appears in other Russian-developed peptides of the era. Whether the full seven-residue chain is required for activity, or whether it acts mainly as a prodrug releasing tuftsin, remains unresolved.
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro. Its four N-terminal residues reproduce tuftsin, a tetrapeptide fragment of the immunoglobulin heavy chain, while the C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension is a synthetic addition. The peptide has a molecular mass near 752 daltons and carries a net positive charge at physiological pH because of the arginine and lysine side chains. Published indexes list it under the name Selank and the sequence abbreviation TKPRPGP. Solid-phase peptide synthesis is the standard production route for research quantities.
Development took place at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where a series of short peptides were designed in the 1980s and 1990s. Selank was selected from variants of tuftsin that showed resistance to plasma peptidases. Russian regulatory approval covers it as an anxiolytic agent given intranasally. Outside that market the compound is normally handled as a research chemical rather than a medicine, and no widely recognised international pharmacopoeial monograph exists. The name Selank is a coined trade designation rather than a systematic chemical name.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Tuftsin analogue with a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro tail |
| Amino acid sequence | Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro | Abbreviated TKPRPGP in most catalogues |
| Molecular mass | About 752 Da | Value for the free peptide |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Aqueous solutions are kept cold and used promptly |
| Typical storage | -20 °C, dry, protected from light | Applies to the lyophilised powder before reconstitution |
Quality assessment of Selank samples typically combines purity determination with identity confirmation and counter-ion analysis. Purity is usually reported as a percentage by chromatographic area, with values above 95 percent often quoted for research-grade material. Water content and residual solvents are checked in lyophilized batches because they affect both stability and accurate mass determination. A reported purity figure does not by itself establish that a sample is the intended sequence, so orthogonal methods are needed to rule out sequence isomers or truncation products.
Characterization of Selank in laboratory settings relies on standard peptide analytical techniques. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separates the peptide from related impurities and degradation products, while mass spectrometry confirms molecular identity through accurate mass measurement. Amino acid analysis and peptide sequencing verify the primary structure when reference material is unavailable. Because Selank is a short chain, fragmentation-based analysis produces a diagnostic ion pattern that supports confident identification.
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.
=== Immediate-spin cross-matching === Immediate-spin cross-matching (ISCM) is an abbreviated form of cross-matching that is faster, but less sensitive; its primary use is to detect a mismatch between ABO blood types. It is an immediate test that involves combining the patient's serum and donor's red blood cells at room temperature, then centrifuging the sample and observing for agglutination or hemolysis. A lack of agglutination or hemolysis indicates a negative test reaction, or compatible match. ISCM is not appropriate in all circumstances; if the recipient's antibody screen is positive, or if they have had a positive antibody screen in the past, a full crossmatch is performed instead.
==== Sigma bond cleavage / σ-cleavage ==== Sigma bond cleavage is most commonly observed in molecules that can produce stable cations, such as saturated alkanes or secondary and tertiary carbocations. This occurs when an alpha electron is removed. The C-C bond elongates and weakens causing fragmentation. Fragmentation at this site produces a charged and a radical fragment.
== Medical use == Methaqualone's sedative-hypnotic properties were first identified in 1955. It gained popularity during the 1960s and 1970s for the treatment of insomnia, and as a general sedative and muscle relaxant. However, due to its abuse potential, it was eventually withdrawn from medical use. The drug was classified as pregnancy category D, meaning there was evidence of risk to the human fetus, and it was not recommended during pregnancy. Like other GABAergic substances, prolonged use of methaqualone can lead to drug tolerance, physical dependence, and withdrawal symptoms upon cessation.
Carbaminohemoglobin (Hb associated with CO2) Carboxyhemoglobin (Hb associated with CO) Chlorophyll (Mg heme) Complete blood count Delta globin Hemoglobinometer Hemoprotein Methemoglobin (ferric Hb, or ferrihemoglobin) Oxyhemoglobin (with diatomic oxygen, colored blood-red) Tegillarca granosa - "blood clam" Vaska's complex – iridium organometallic complex notable for its ability to bind to O2 reversibly
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
For over fifty years, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina reported stigmata which were studied by several 20th-century physicians, whose independence from the Church is not known. The observations were reportedly inexplicable and the wounds never became infected. His wounds healed once, but reappeared. The wounds were examined by Luigi Romanelli, chief physician of the City Hospital of Barletta, for about one year. The physician Angelo Maria Merla noted that the wounds were not tubercular in origin but could not make an official diagnosis without further tests. The surgeon Giorgio Festa, a private practitioner, also examined them in 1920 and 1925. Professor Giuseppe Bastianelli, physician to Pope Benedict XV, examined the wounds, but no report of his examinations was made. Pathologist Amico Bignami of the University of Rome also observed the wounds, describing them as shallow. Festa, who had originally agreed with Bignami, later described the wounds as superficial when covered with a scab. Giorgio Festa noted that "at the edges of the lesions, the skin is perfectly normal and does not show any sign of edema, of penetration, or of redness, even when examined with a good magnifying glass". Alberto Caserta took X-rays of the hands in 1954 and found no abnormality in the bone structure. Giuseppe Sala who worked as a physician for Pio between 1956 and 1968 commented that tests revealed his blood had no signs of abnormality. There were both religious and non-religious critics who accused Padre Pio of faking his stigmata, saying he used carbolic acid to make the wounds.
=== Assumptions === The mathematics of radioactive decay depend on a key assumption that a nucleus of a radionuclide has no "memory" or way of translating its history into its present behavior. A nucleus does not "age" with the passage of time. Thus, the probability of its breaking down does not increase with time but stays constant, no matter how long the nucleus has existed. This constant probability may differ greatly between one type of nucleus and another, leading to the many different observed decay rates. However, whatever the probability is, it does not change over time. This is in marked contrast to complex objects that do show aging, such as automobiles and humans. These aging systems do have a chance of breakdown per unit of time that increases from the moment they begin their existence. Aggregate processes, like the radioactive decay of a lump of atoms, for which the single-event probability of realization is very small but in which the number of time-slices is so large that there is nevertheless a reasonable rate of events, are modelled by the Poisson distribution, which is discrete. Radioactive decay and nuclear particle reactions are two examples of such aggregate processes. The mathematics of Poisson processes reduce to the law of exponential decay, which describes the statistical behaviour of a large number of nuclei, rather than one individual nucleus.
=== Niche uses === Ethylene oxide is used as a fungicide and as an accelerator of maturation of tobacco leaves. Ethylene oxide is also used as a main component of thermobaric weapons (fuel-air explosives).
Michael Rosen, (born 7 May 1946), son of Connie and Harold Rosen, is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has written over 200 books for children and adults. Chanie Rosenberg (1922 –2021) South African-Lithuanian Jewish-born artist, author, journalist, radical pamphleteer, teacher and socialist; sister of Michael Kidron and partner of Tony Cliff, founder member of Socialist Workers Party in Britain.; relative of poet Isaac Rosenberg; studied Hebrew at Cape Town University; in 1944, moved to Palestine to live on kibbutz where she became an anti-Zionist and a revolutionary socialist and met Yigael Gluckstein (better known as Tony Cliff); moved to Britain where she was member of the Revolutionary Communist Party from 1944 to 1949; afterwards joining the group which eventually became the Socialist Workers Party; active in many anti-racist and anti-fascist mobilisations; active in the National Union of Teachers.; also artist whose sculpture has been exhibited in Royal Academy of Arts. Andrew Roth (23 April 1919 – 12 August 2010); biographer and journalist known for his compilation of Parliamentary Profiles, a directory of biographies of British Members of Parliament; compiled profiles of the personnel of the British Parliament and assessed their character traits, history, opinions and psychological drives; The Daily Telegraph called Roth a "Westminster institution".
== Further reading == Laurence, J (2015). "Centennial celebration of Translational Research: The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine". Translational Research. 165 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.trsl.2014.08.004. PMID 25301250. Hammerschmidt, DE (2004). "A new look and a heightened focus: Translational medicine and the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine". Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine. 144 (1): 5–6. doi:10.1016/j.lab.2004.05.006. Vaughan, WT (1940). "We celebrate our silver anniversary". Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine. 26 (1): 1–3.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Selank is a seven-amino-acid peptide built from the tuftsin sequence plus a Pro-Gly-Pro tail. It is produced by chemical synthesis rather than extracted from a natural source. The free peptide is usually supplied as a lyophilised powder or in an aqueous formulation.
Tuftsin is a natural tetrapeptide derived from the Fc portion of immunoglobulin G. Selank retains that tetrapeptide at its N-terminus and adds three residues to improve resistance to enzymatic breakdown. The relationship is structural, and the two molecules are not interchangeable in experimental work.
It holds a product registration in Russia for intranasal use as an anxiolytic. Registrations of that kind are not automatically accepted by regulators elsewhere. In most other countries it is treated as an unapproved substance or a research material.
The sequence is Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, commonly written as TKPRPGP. It shares the first four residues with tuftsin and carries three prolines in the chain. The proline-rich tail is the main structural feature that separates it from the parent tetrapeptide.