The short version of Tuftsin analog fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2026-07-23. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
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.
Once dissolved, the peptide is markedly less stable than the dry powder. Aqueous solutions are subject to backbone hydrolysis and to microbial growth when they are handled without sterile technique. Buffered solutions near neutral pH are common for short-term laboratory work, while acidic conditions are sometimes used to improve solubility. Analytical laboratories generally prepare working solutions fresh rather than storing them, and a residual water film left in a reopened vial can seed degradation even when the container appears dry.
Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is the standard technique for estimating peptide purity. The result is a peak-area percentage, which describes how much of the detected material elutes as the main peak in one run. Mass spectrometry confirms the molecular mass and can reveal truncated, adducted, or otherwise modified species. Amino acid analysis or tandem mass spectrometry can address sequence fidelity when identity is in doubt. None of these measurements, taken alone, establishes that a sample is fit for any specific purpose.
| 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 |
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.
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.
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.
=== Congenital adrenal hyperplasia === Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) describes a group of autosomal recessive disorders that cause a lack of an enzyme necessary for the production of cortisol and/or aldosterone, steroid hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. Most cases of CAH are due to 21-hydroxylase deficiencies. The heightened androgen levels seen in congenital adrenal hyperplasia affect the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Heightened androgen levels can also affect the ovaries, which can lead to infertility as well as chronic anovulation. Since CAH consists of multiple disorders, the signs, symptoms and severity of hyperandrogenism may stem from a variety of specific mutations. Genotyping is therefore critical to verify diagnoses and to establish prognostic factors for individuals. Genotyping is also crucial for people seeking to use genetic counselling as an aid to family planning. In women, CAH causes ambiguous genitals at birth and excessive pubic hair, enlargement of the clitoris, and hirsutism in adolescence. Although CAH causes rapid growth in childhood, adult women with CAH are shorter than average due to early puberty and closure of the growth plates in the long bones. Symptoms in males include early showings of pubic hair, enlargement of the penis, and rapid musculoskeletal growth.
=== Legion of honor === The Léonore database allows online access to a large portion of files for members of the National Order of the Legion of Honor. Many birth records predating 1860 are included, helping to fill gaps in Parisian civil records.
== Naturally occurring molecular knots == Organic molecules containing knots may fall into the categories of slipknots or pseudo-knots. They are not considered mathematical knots because they are not a closed curve, but rather a knot that exists within an otherwise linear chain, with termini at each end. Knotted proteins are thought to form molecular knots during their tertiary structure folding process, and knotted nucleic acids generally form molecular knots during genomic replication and transcription, though details of knotting mechanism continue to be disputed and ambiguous. Molecular simulations are fundamental to the research on molecular knotting mechanisms. Knotted DNA was found first in single-stranded, circular, bacterial DNA, though double-stranded circular DNA has been found to also form knots. Naturally knotted RNA has not yet been reported. A number of proteins containing naturally occurring molecular knots have been identified. The knot types found to be naturally occurring in proteins are the
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a government resolution, the Board was an experiment in inter-state integration and cooperation in the sphere of secondary education. There are more than 27,000 schools in India and 240 schools in 28 foreign countries affiliated with the CBSE. All schools affiliated with CBSE follow the NCERT curriculum, especially those in classes 9 to 12. The current Chairperson of CBSE is Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, IAS The constitution of the Board was amended in 1952 to give its present name, the Central Board of Secondary Education. The Board was reconstituted on 1 July 1962 to make its services available to students and various educational institutions across the country.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Composition === Computational analysis revealed the most abundant amino acid to be leucine at 10.1% of the total protein. The second most abundant was serine which contributes to 8.6% of the total protein. Glutamic acid was third most abundant and contributes to 7.7% of the protein. This analysis also revealed that the protein appears to be deficient in tryptophan as it only contributes to 1.1% of the protein. Based on the distribution of other amino acid types, there were five high scoring hydrophobic segments. There were also two transmembrane domains located at 82-98aa and 432-449aa.
Between January and March 1988, the SADF and UNITA launched several bloody offensives just east of Cuito Cuanavale to destroy the shattered Angolan units that had succeeded in establishing a new defensive line there, an initiative which became known as Operation Packer. They managed to drive FAPLA deeper into a shrinking perimeter between the Cuito, Tumpo, and Dala rivers known as the "Tumpo Triangle".
nuclease Any of a class of enzymes capable of cleaving phosphodiester bonds connecting adjacent nucleotides in a nucleic acid molecule (the opposite of a ligase). Nucleases may nick one strand or cut both strands of a duplex molecule, and may cleave randomly or at specific recognition sequences. They are ubiquitous and imperative for normal cellular function, and are also widely employed in laboratory techniques.
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.
Sealed, desiccated storage at -20 °C or colder is the standard recommendation for research-grade material. Vials should reach room temperature before they are opened, which limits condensation. Repeated temperature cycling is discouraged.