The short version of Selank fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
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Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide developed in Russia. Its sequence is Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, a seven-residue chain built around the natural tetrapeptide tuftsin. Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences first described the compound in the mid-1990s. The design combined the tuftsin core with an added Pro-Gly-Pro tail, a modification intended to extend the molecule's stability in biological fluids. Published work on the peptide has appeared mainly in Russian-language journals.
Reported activity for Selank centers on anxiolytic and nootropic effects. Russian clinical reports describe use in anxiety and in cognitive or attention-related complaints. Most of this evidence comes from studies conducted by the same research groups that developed the peptide. Independent replication in other countries remains limited, and no major Western regulatory agency has approved the compound for any indication. The gap between local reports and external verification is a recurring point in discussions of the peptide.
Pharmacokinetic data are sparse and largely derived from animal work. After intranasal administration the peptide appears in plasma within minutes, and reported half-lives are short, on the order of minutes to tens of minutes. Degradation proceeds through ordinary proteolytic cleavage into constituent amino acids and smaller fragments. Direct evidence that intact Selank reaches brain tissue in meaningful amounts is limited, and the extent of blood-brain barrier penetration is debated. Some authors argue that fragments, not the parent peptide, carry much of the observed activity.
Published clinical work is concentrated in Russian-language journals and generally involves small samples without independent replication. Systematic reviews in English note the shortage of randomised, placebo-controlled trials and the difficulty of verifying methods from translated reports. Outcome measures vary between studies, which complicates pooling of results. Interest in the compound as a cognitive or anxiolytic agent therefore rests on a thinner evidence base than the volume of citations suggests. Replication in well-powered trials with preregistered endpoints would be needed before firm conclusions about efficacy can be drawn.
Proposed mechanisms centre on the GABAergic system. Animal and tissue studies report changes in GABA-A receptor expression and reduced activity of GABA transaminase, the enzyme that degrades GABA. Effects on monoamine turnover, including serotonin and dopamine pathways, are also described, and a separate line of work links the peptide to increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in hippocampal tissue. Most of these findings come from rodent models and cell preparations. How the individual observations combine into a single coherent mode of action is not settled.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Modeled on tuftsin |
| Amino acid sequence | Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro | Seven residues |
| Approximate molecular mass | Around 750 Da | Depends on counter-ion and hydration |
| Common forms | Lyophilized powder | Also described as aqueous solution |
| Primary origin of research | Russian laboratories | Mid-1990s onward |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Has written for The Guardian London Review of Books, Red Pepper (magazine), Novara Media, Radical Philosophy, and has worked with Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Independent Jewish Voices and Faculty for Israeli–Palestinian Peace (FFIPP) engaged in efforts to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and create a just peace between Israel and Palestine. Anthony Seldon (born 2 August 1953); educator, contemporary historian, journalist, broadcaster, academic, author, wrote biographies of British Prime Ministers, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson; was master (headmaster) of Wellington College, one of Britain's co-educational independent boarding schools, and is current Head Master of Epsom College; is author or editor of more than 45 books on contemporary history, politics and education; was co-founder and first director of Centre for Contemporary British History; co-founder of Action for Happiness, is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is on board of a number of charities and educational bodies; is honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street and member of the First World War Centenary Culture Committee; was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to education and modern political history.
These studies, generally small and often single-center with short- to mid-term follow-up, report that laser-based techniques may be associated with reduced postoperative pain, shorter operative time, shorter hospital stay, faster wound healing, and improved cosmetic outcomes, with recurrence rates broadly comparable to conventional surgery in the short term. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of laser treatment in pilonidal disease report primary healing rates of approximately 80–85% and relatively low complication rates, with recurrence rates varying depending on follow-up duration and study design. A broader meta-analysis of minimally invasive techniques suggests that laser ablation may be associated with a lower risk of recurrence compared with excisional surgery, although the included studies are heterogeneous. A systematic review by Romic et al. (2022), including 10 studies with 971 patients, reported a primary healing rate of 94.4% and a weighted mean recurrence rate of 3.8% following sinus laser-assisted closure. The authors concluded that laser treatment represents a promising option for managing chronic PD based on the published literature.
The techniques were later expanded to the meat-packing industry. From 1929, Clarence Birdseye introduced "flash freezing" to the American public. Birdseye first became interested in food freezing during fur-trapping expeditions to Labrador in 1912 and 1916, where he saw the natives use natural freezing to preserve foods. A 1920s hunting trip to Canada, where he witnessed the traditional methods of the indigenous Inuit, directly inspired Birdseye's food preserving method. The Icelandic Fisheries Commission was created in 1934 to initiate innovation in the industry, and encouraged fishermen to start quick-freezing their catch. Íshúsfélag Ísfirðinga, one of the first frozen fish companies, was formed in Ísafjörður, Iceland, by a merger in 1937. More advanced attempts include food frozen for Eleanor Roosevelt on her trip to Russia. Other experiments involving orange juice, ice cream and vegetables were conducted by the military near the end of World War II.
Dòugān (豆乾, literally "dry tofu" in Chinese) is an extra firm variety of tofu where a large proportion of the liquid has been pressed out. Dòugān contains the least moisture of all fresh tofu, the firmness of fully cooked meat, and a somewhat rubbery feel similar to that of paneer. It is not easily crumbled except when sliced thinly. Some varieties of dougan has the pattern of the muslin used to drain and press it. Western firm tofu is milled and reformed after pressing. One way to cook dougan is to cut it into thin slices called shredded dried tofu (乾絲, gānsī). The strings look like loose cooked noodles and can be served cold, stir-fried, or added to soup, as with Japanese aburaage.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
shotgun sequencing A method of sequencing entire genomes in which genomic DNA is randomly fragmented (e.g. by sonication or restriction digests), cloned into plasmid vectors, and then sequenced using primers that anneal to flanking sequences in the plasmids. Computer software is used to align the sequenced fragments via overlapping contigs, allowing scientists to deduce the relative genomic locations of each fragment and thereby assemble a complete genome.
=== Growth hormone receptor mutations === Molecular genetic investigations have shown that LS is mainly associated with autosomal recessive mutations in the gene for the growth hormone receptor (GHR). These can result in defective hormone binding to the ectodomain or reduced efficiency of dimerization of the receptor after hormone occupancy. LS is generally classified as "primary" GH insensitivity, which is distinguished from "secondary" GH insensitivity. Primary (congenital/hereditary) GH insensitivity may result from growth hormone receptor defects, as in the case of Laron syndrome, but can also be caused by defective post-receptor signal transduction (STAT5B), abnormalities of the IGF-1 gene or IGF-1 receptor. Secondary (acquired) GH insensitivity results from antibodies to growth hormone or the growth hormone receptor, as well as poor nutritional status, liver disease or diabetes mellitus. A GHR mutation that results in only partial insensitivity to GH can manifest as a form of idiopathic short stature.
To what extent suicidal thoughts are influenced by behavioral symptoms is unclear, as they signify a desire to avoid the later stages of the disease. Suicide is the greatest risk of this disease before the diagnosis is made and in the middle stages of development throughout the disease. Other associated risks include choking due to the inability to swallow, physical injury from falls, and malnutrition.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Selank is a synthetic peptide made of seven amino acids. It is modeled on tuftsin, a natural tetrapeptide, with an added three-residue tail. It is not a small-molecule drug.
It originates from research in Russia, associated with the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The first descriptions date to the mid-1990s. Most published studies come from Russian laboratories.
No, Selank itself does not occur naturally. Its backbone is based on tuftsin, which is produced in the body, but the seven-residue version is a synthetic construct. It is supplied as a manufactured peptide.
Reports describe modulation of GABA signalling, changes in monoamine turnover and effects on neurotrophic factor expression. These observations come mainly from animal and cell studies. A single unifying mechanism has not been demonstrated.