Research guide
Semax: ACTH-Fragment Analogue Research Guide
Semax is a fragment of a hormone with three extra amino acids stuck on the end, and those three amino acids are the entire compound. Without them the fragment is destroyed in the bloodstream almost immediately. The material supplied here is not approved by any regulatory authority. This guide sets out what the published research has examined, with an identifier for every study named.
Identifiers
- Common name
- Semax
- Sequence
- Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro (Eremin et al., 2005)
- Length
- Seven amino acids
- Parent fragment
- ACTH(4-7) — residues four to seven of adrenocorticotropic hormone
- Also described as
- An ACTH(4-10) analogue
- Structural modification
- Proline-glycine-proline tail attached at the C-terminus
- Regulatory status
- The material supplied here is not approved by any regulatory authority
- Supplied by Prime Peptides UAE as
- 10mg vial — Semax product page
What Semax is
Adrenocorticotropic hormone is a 39-amino-acid pituitary hormone. Semax is not that hormone; it is built on a four-residue slice of it — Met-Glu-His-Phe, residues 4 to 7 — with a three-residue tail attached: proline-glycine-proline.
The tail is the design. Short peptide fragments are cut apart quickly in the blood by peptidases, and a fragment of four residues is about as short-lived as a molecule gets. Attaching Pro-Gly-Pro at the C-terminus slows that breakdown. What the compound is, structurally, is a very short-lived fragment made to last.
The seven-residue sequence — Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro — is stated directly in the Eremin 2005 paper cited below, so it is sourced rather than assumed. The literature also describes the compound as an ACTH(4-10) analogue; both descriptions appear across the published work and refer to the same molecule.
Terms of this kind are collected in the research peptide terminology glossary. The compound built on the same stabilising strategy from a different parent peptide is covered in the Selank research guide.
What the published literature has examined
That is a fact about the record, not a judgement of it — but it means the English-language, retrievable, independently checkable record is narrower than the volume of writing about this compound suggests. This guide cites the retrievable primary sources and does not pad the list with material it cannot point a reader at. Magnitudes are deliberately omitted throughout.
Neurotransmitter measures in rodent striatum, 2005
Eremin and colleagues, Neurochemistry Research (PMID 16362768). Examined dopaminergic and serotonergic measures in rodent striatum. Two findings, and the second is as useful as the first: a statistically significant increase in a serotonin metabolite, and no alteration of dopamine or its metabolites by the peptide alone.
The null half is worth reporting rather than dropping. A compound that changes one neurotransmitter system’s measures and not another’s is a more specific object than a compound described as simply “active”, and a paper reporting both is a better source than one reporting only the positive.
Binding and neurotrophic protein in rat basal forebrain, 2006
Dolotov and colleagues, Journal of Neurochemistry (PMID 16635254). Examined specific binding of the peptide and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein levels in rat basal forebrain.
Regulatory status
The material supplied here is not approved by any regulatory authority. It is not a medicine, and it is not supplied as one.
Prime Peptides UAE supplies Semax as a research material only.
What this literature does not establish
Published research attaches to a compound. It does not attach to a vial.
- Both cited studies are rodent studies. Measurements in rat striatum and rat basal forebrain are measurements in rats. Extending them to any other system is an inference the papers do not make.
- The retrievable English-language record is narrow. Much of the primary literature on this compound is Russian-language and weakly indexed. A summary that reads as comprehensive on this compound should be checked against what it can actually point at.
- Structure is not activity. That a modification slows enzymatic breakdown is a structural fact about the molecule. It says nothing about what the molecule does in any system, which is what the studies above were run to examine.
- A published paper says nothing about a research material’s provenance — how to read a peptide COA.
How Prime Peptides UAE documents Semax
Currently being tested. No third-party lab report is published for this product. Prime Peptides UAE publishes reports where it holds them and states plainly where it does not.
The reports we do hold are published in full, with the issuing laboratory’s verification keys, on Testing and Quality. Format, strength, AED price and current document status for this item are on the Semax product page.
For research purposes only. Not for human consumption.
Prime Peptides UAE supplies this compound as a laboratory research material. Full regulatory information: Product and Regulatory Information.
Common questions
What is Semax?
A seven-amino-acid synthetic peptide: the ACTH(4-7) fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone — Met-Glu-His-Phe — with a proline-glycine-proline tail attached. The full sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro is stated in Eremin and colleagues (Neurochemistry Research, 2005, PMID 16362768). The literature also describes it as an ACTH(4-10) analogue.
What does the Pro-Gly-Pro tail do?
It slows enzymatic breakdown. The parent fragment is cut apart quickly by peptidases in the blood; the three-residue tail attached at the C-terminus is what makes a longer-lived molecule out of a very short-lived one. That is a structural property of the compound, not a finding about what it does in any system.
What form does Prime Peptides UAE supply Semax in?
A 10mg vial. Format, strength, AED price and current document status are on the Semax product page.
Is Semax approved by a regulator?
The material supplied here is not approved by any regulatory authority. Prime Peptides UAE supplies Semax as a research material only, not as a medicine.
What has the published research examined?
Two retrievable primary sources are cited here: dopaminergic and serotonergic measures in rodent striatum (Eremin et al., 2005, PMID 16362768), and specific binding plus brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein levels in rat basal forebrain (Dolotov et al., 2006, PMID 16635254). Both are rodent studies.
Why is the source list short?
Because much of the primary literature on this compound is Russian-language and published in journals with weaker international indexing. This guide cites what it can point a reader at and does not lengthen the list with sources a reader cannot retrieve and check.
Does Prime Peptides UAE publish a lab report for Semax?
Not yet. Currently being tested. No third-party lab report is published for this product. Prime Peptides UAE publishes reports where it holds them and states plainly where it does not — the ones we hold are on Testing and Quality.
References
- Eremin KO, et al. Neurochemistry Research. 2005;30(12):1493–1500. Dopaminergic and serotonergic measures in rodent striatum. PMID 16362768
- Dolotov OV, et al. Journal of Neurochemistry. 2006;97(Suppl 1):82–86. Specific binding and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein levels in rat basal forebrain. PMID 16635254