Enkephalinase is one of those subjects where the details matter more than the headlines. This page pulls together the background, the mechanisms, and the practical points readers ask about most.
Last reviewed on 2026-08-01. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
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 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.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Principal proposed target | GABA-A receptor complex | Hypothesis derived mainly from animal pharmacology |
| Common behavioral assay | Elevated plus maze | Rodent test for anxiety-like behavior |
| Reported molecular marker | Hippocampal BDNF expression | Measured by immunoassay or mRNA quantification |
| Typical dosing route | Intranasal | Chosen to reduce first-pass metabolism |
| Reported plasma half-life | Minutes | Based on limited peptide stability data |
Purity assessment relies mainly on reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Because the peptide lacks a strong chromophore, detection often uses backbone absorbance near 214 nm. Identity is confirmed by mass spectrometry, typically electrospray ionization or matrix-assisted laser desorption, comparing the measured mass against the expected value. Amino acid analysis can verify composition after acid hydrolysis. Diastereomer content and residual counterions are reported less often, although both can influence biological assays.
Lyophilized material is generally stable for extended periods when kept dry at or below minus twenty degrees Celsius. Working solutions are less stable, and common practice is to aliquot and freeze them so that repeated freeze-thaw cycles are avoided. Aqueous solutions are sensitive to pH extremes and to microbial growth, so short-term storage at refrigerator temperature is typical. Oxidation and hydrolysis are the principal degradation routes. Reconstitution with sterile water or a mild buffer is standard, and solutions should be protected from light.
Regulatory treatment varies by jurisdiction. In Russia the compound is a registered prescription product, while in the European Union and the United States it is generally handled as a research chemical without a marketing authorization. Suppliers therefore operate outside pharmaceutical oversight, and buyers rely on supplier documentation for purity and identity claims. Chain of custody and third-party testing are the main verification tools. Analysts note that the absence of a pharmacopoeial monograph for research-grade material limits standardization across vendors.
Dry powder is normally held at -20 degrees Celsius or lower, in a sealed container with desiccant and protection from light. Reconstituted solutions are usually kept at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for short periods and frozen for longer ones. Proline residues at several positions are generally associated with some resistance to peptidase attack, but chemical stability still declines at neutral to alkaline pH and at elevated temperature. Exact shelf-life figures are product-specific and are not standardised across suppliers.
Identity and purity are usually assessed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, with mass spectrometry used to confirm molecular mass and sequence information. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping may supplement these methods. Certified reference standards are scarce, and many commercial lots are sold as research chemicals without a pharmacopoeial monograph. Regulatory treatment differs by country: Selank is a registered prescription medicine in Russia, while in the European Union and the United States it is not an approved drug and may fall under research-chemical or unapproved-product frameworks.
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.
The compound was designed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences during the 1980s and 1990s. The stated design goal was to retain the immunomodulatory and central nervous system activity attributed to tuftsin while improving resistance to enzymatic breakdown. Adding a proline-rich tail to the short parent peptide was a deliberate strategy, because proline residues restrict the conformations available to many peptidases. The same laboratory produced Semax, an ACTH fragment analog, and both compounds were developed in parallel as short, enzymatically stabilized peptides intended for intranasal use.
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.
Sultan Selim also imported 300,000 bulbs of Kefe Lale (also known as Cafe-Lale, from the medieval name Kaffa, probably Tulipa suaveolens, syn. Tulipa schrenkii) from Kefe in Crimea, for his gardens in the Topkapı Sarayı in Istanbul. It is also reported that shortly after arriving in Constantinople in 1554, Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, ambassador of the Austrian Habsburgs to the court of Suleyman the Magnificent, claimed to have introduced the tulip to Europe by sending a consignment of bulbs west. The fact that the tulip's first official trip west took it from one court to the other could have contributed to its ascendency. Sultan Ahmet III maintained famous tulip gardens in the summer highland pastures (yayla) at Spil Dağı above the town of Manisa. They seem to have consisted of wild tulips. However, of the 14 tulip species known from Turkey, only four are considered to be of local origin, so wild tulips from Iran and Central Asia may have been brought into Turkey during the Seljuk and especially Ottoman periods. Also, Sultan Ahmet imported domestic tulip bulbs from the Netherlands. The gardening book Revnak'ı Bostan (Beauty of the Garden) by Sahibül Reis ülhaç Ibrahim Ibn ülhaç Mehmet, written in 1660 does not mention the tulip at all, but contains advice on growing hyacinths and lilies. However, there is considerable confusion of terminology, and tulips may have been subsumed under hyacinth, a mistake several European botanists were to perpetuate.
=== Science and academia === Andy Miah, professor of science communication and future media at the University of Salford, called TEG a "provocation", saying that "... the significant risk of athletes excessively enhancing and risking significant health complications is unaddressed by their materials. There is no mention of medical oversight in the competition on the website, from what I can see." Fraser said that "Each athlete must be under clinical supervision." According to D'Souza, "We will focus on athlete safety by mandating athletes have pre-competition full-system clinical screenings including blood tests and EKGs." Science writer Ronald Bailey said, "Let fans decide which play they prefer." Grigory Rodchenkov, former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, said it was a "danger to health, to sport." Academic John William Devine said, "In a sporting world in which inequality of opportunity is already rampant, the removal of the doping ban would only deepen an existing moral failing." According to John Hoberman, author of several books on sports and doping, D'Souza's idea that drugs would lead to better performance is "very simplistic", and D'Souza is "very shallow on the scientific end". Anti-doping expert Michael Ashenden expressed support for the games in 2024, "provided their athletes do nothing illegal". Science philosopher Byron Hyde said that the large financial incentives offered by TEG risk coercing struggling athletes into participating, undermining their autonomy.
Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Raynaud's phenomenon. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in females. It can be taken orally (swallowed by mouth), intravenously (injection into a vein), or through the sublingual route (dissolved under the tongue). Onset when taken orally is typically within twenty minutes and lasts for about two hours. Common side effects include headaches, heartburn, and flushed skin. Caution is advised in those with cardiovascular disease. Rare but serious side effects include vision problems, hearing loss, and prolonged erection (priapism) that can lead to damage to the penis. Sildenafil should not be taken by people on nitric oxide donors such as nitroglycerin, as this may result in a serious drop in blood pressure. Sildenafil acts by blocking phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), an enzyme that promotes breakdown of cGMP, which regulates blood flow in the penis. It requires sexual arousal to work, and does not by itself cause or increase sexual arousal. It also results in dilation of the blood vessels in the lungs. Pfizer originally discovered the medication in 1989 while looking for a treatment for angina. It was approved for medical use in the United States and in the European Union in 1998. In 2023, it was the 151st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 3 million prescriptions.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Early life == Frank Laukien is the son of Günther Laukien, the founder of Bruker. His mother Dr. Rose Laukien was a German high-school (Gymnasium) teacher in German literature, English and History. In 1984 he earned a bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University in 1988.
=== Prosecution === In his opening statement, prosecutor Brian Leveson portrayed the Wests as sadistic sex-obsessed murderers, terming the bodies discovered at Cromwell Street and Midland Road "secrets more terrible than words can express ... [The victims'] last moments on earth were as objects of the sexual depravity of this woman and her husband." He pointed out that Fred had been incarcerated when Charmaine was killed, claimed that Fred and Rose had each learned from their mistake in allowing Owens to live, and said that the gag on victim Thérèse Siegenthaler evinced a "feminine" touch—a scarf tied in a bow. Leveson promised to demonstrate Rose's controlling and sexually sadistic character, as well as her efforts to deflect suspicion about the disappearance of their victims. Prosecution witnesses included Cromwell Street lodgers, victims' relatives, Rose's mother, Daisy, and sister, Glenys, and surviving victims including Kathryn Halliday (a former lover of Fred and Rose), Owens, Anne Marie and a "Miss A" (who had been sexually assaulted at age 14 by Fred and Rose in 1977 and who described Rose as the more aggressive perpetrator of the two). Neighbours described Charmaine's 1971 disappearance while Fred was imprisoned and Rose's casual indifference to Heather's disappearance. Rose's counsel, Dick Ferguson, tried to discredit prosecution witnesses as either having financially exploited their connection to the case or being motivated by grudges.
Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), also known as Bridges–Good syndrome, chronic granulomatous disorder, and Quie syndrome, is a diverse group of hereditary diseases in which certain cells of the immune system have difficulty forming the reactive oxygen compounds (most importantly the superoxide radical due to defective phagocyte NADPH oxidase) used to kill certain ingested pathogens. This leads to the formation of granulomas in many organs. CGD affects about 1 in 200,000 people in the United States, with about 20 new cases diagnosed each year. This condition was first discovered in 1950 in a series of four boys from Minnesota, and in 1957 it was named "a fatal granulomatosus of childhood" in a publication describing their disease. The underlying cellular mechanism that causes chronic granulomatous disease was discovered in 1967, and research since that time has further elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. Bernard Babior made key contributions in linking the defect of superoxide production of white blood cells, to the cause of the disease. In 1986, the X-linked form of CGD was the first disease for which positional cloning was used to identify the underlying genetic mutation.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Rongliflozin/Olorigliflozin has been evaluated in phase I trials, but is not yet approved by the FDA Sergliflozin etabonate discontinued after phase II trials. Sotagliflozin (Inpefa) is a dual SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2023, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalization for heart failure, and urgent heart failure visit in adults with heart failure or type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and other cardiovascular risk factors. Tofogliflozin, developed by Sanofi and Kowa Pharmaceutical, was approved in Japan in March 2014, under the brand names Apleway and Deberza. Velagliflozin, marketed as Senvelgo, produced by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, was approved for use in diabetic cats in 2023.
The human body produces diverse surfactants. Pulmonary surfactant is produced in the lungs in order to facilitate breathing by increasing total lung capacity, and lung compliance. In respiratory distress syndrome or RDS, surfactant replacement therapy helps patients have normal respiration by using pharmaceutical forms of the surfactants. One example of a pharmaceutical pulmonary surfactant is Survanta (beractant) or its generic form Beraksurf, produced by Abbvie and Tekzima respectively. Bile salts, a surfactant produced in the liver, play an important role in digestion. Certain caterpillars (of the moth species Spodoptera exigua, South East Asia) spit a surfactant-containing secretion at predators. This deters attacking ants, allowing the caterpillars to escape. The surfactants in the caterpillars' oral secretions reduce its surface tension. Instead of rolling off the ants' water-repellent skin like normal water, the secretion soaks the attackers. The affected ants then clean themselves, which gives the caterpillar enough time to escape.
Built in the Interwar period, it is now the largest in Seine-Maritime with about 1,300 moorings additional moorings were installed in the Vauban basin in 2011–2012. The Havraise Rowing Society has trained many rowers to a high level as Thierry Renault. The Club Nautique Le Havrais (CNH) is the centre of mixed swimming, synchronized swimming, and men's water polo. The Centre Nautique Paul Vatine is the fifth largest club in the country for the number of sports licenses it holds; it ranks second in the Division 1 of the Championship France for Catamaran Clubs. Several major local sportsmen began their career at Le Havre: the swimmer Hugues Duboscq was an Olympic medallist several times. In judo the French team has two members from Le Havre: Dimitri Dragin and Baptiste Leroy. Jerome Le Banner is a professional kick-boxer at world level who participates in the K-1 championship. Finally the navigator Paul Vatine, who was lost at sea in 1999, won the Transat Jacques Vabre several times.
== References == This article was adapted from the following source under a CC BY 4.0 license (2021) (reviewer reports): Yingxuan Ma; Kim Johnson (2021). "Arabinogalactan-proteins" (PDF). WikiJournal of Science. 4 (1): 2. doi:10.15347/wjs/2021.002. Wikidata Q99557488.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
Behavioral endpoints include time spent in open arms of the elevated plus maze and avoidance latencies. Biochemical endpoints include BDNF concentration, cytokine levels, and monoamine metabolite ratios in brain tissue.
Most published studies are small, originate from a limited number of laboratories, and lack independent replication. Dose-response relationships, measured brain exposure, and long-term outcomes are not well characterized.
It is a seven-amino-acid peptide, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, produced by chemical synthesis rather than extracted from biological tissue. Its design is based on tuftsin, a natural immunomodulatory tetrapeptide. The C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro segment is a common stabilising motif in short regulatory peptides.