HPLC raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.
Reviewed 2026-06-01. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as 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.
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.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic heptapeptide | Analog of the tetrapeptide tuftsin |
| Sequence | Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro | Reported consistently across pharmacopoeial descriptions |
| Appearance | White to off-white lyophilized powder | Typical form of research-grade material |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Aqueous buffers; poor in nonpolar solvents |
| Typical storage temperature | -20 degrees Celsius | Lyophilized powder; protect from moisture |
Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, frequently abbreviated as TKPRPGP. It was designed as a structural analogue of tuftsin, a naturally occurring tetrapeptide released by enzymatic cleavage of the immunoglobulin heavy chain. The two additional proline residues at the C-terminal end extend the parent chain and change how the molecule behaves in solution. The free peptide has a calculated molecular mass of approximately 751.9 g/mol and is generally supplied as a lyophilised white to off-white powder.
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.
Lyophilized Selank, the dry powder form, is generally stored frozen at minus 20 degrees Celsius or colder for long-term keeping. The solid is hygroscopic and should stay sealed, dry, and protected from light. Once dissolved, the peptide is less stable and is usually held refrigerated at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for short periods. Repeated freezing and thawing is avoided because it can promote aggregation and loss of activity. Buffers and pH choice also affect how long a solution remains usable.
Solubility behavior is a practical concern for handling. Selank dissolves readily in water and in common aqueous buffers, which simplifies preparation of working solutions. The choice of solvent, ionic strength, and pH can influence aggregation over time, particularly at higher concentrations. Aqueous solutions are typically sterile-filtered before use. Because stability depends on several variables, storage and handling notes should be treated as general guidance rather than fixed rules, and specific values are best confirmed against a certificate of analysis for each batch.
Characterization of Selank in a laboratory setting relies on standard peptide methods. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separates the target from related impurities and provides a purity figure, commonly reported as 95 percent or higher. Mass spectrometry, typically electrospray ionization or matrix-assisted laser desorption, confirms the molecular mass and helps detect truncation or modification. Amino acid analysis can verify composition when a sequence-level check is needed. These techniques together establish identity and purity for a given lot.
As a practical matter, when platinum group metals are purified through dissolution in aqua regia, gold (commonly associated with PGMs) is precipitated by treatment with iron(II) chloride. Platinum in the filtrate, as hexachloroplatinate(IV), is converted to ammonium hexachloroplatinate by the addition of ammonium chloride. This ammonium salt is extremely insoluble, and it can be filtered off. Ignition (strong heating) converts it to platinum metal: 3 [NH4]2[PtCl6] → 3 Pt + 2 N2 + 2 [NH4]Cl + 16 HCl Unprecipitated hexachloroplatinate(IV) is reduced with elemental zinc, and a similar method is suitable for small scale recovery of platinum from laboratory residues. Aqua regia reacts with tin to form tin(IV) chloride, containing tin in its highest oxidation state: 4 HCl + 2 HNO3 + Sn → SnCl4 + NO2 + NO + 3 H2O Aqua regia can react with iron pyrite to form iron(III) chloride: FeS2 + 5 HNO3 + 3 HCl → FeCl3 + 2 H2SO4 + 5 NO + 2 H2O
Nucleic acid tertiary structure is the three-dimensional shape of a nucleic acid polymer. RNA and DNA molecules are capable of diverse functions ranging from molecular recognition to catalysis. Such functions require a precise three-dimensional structure. While such structures are diverse and seemingly complex, they are composed of recurring, easily recognizable tertiary structural motifs that serve as molecular building blocks. Some of the most common motifs for RNA and DNA tertiary structure are described below, but this information is based on a limited number of solved structures. Many more tertiary structural motifs will be revealed as new RNA and DNA molecules are structurally characterized.
All mammalian alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes except placental (PALP and SEAP) are inhibited by homoarginine, and, in similar manner, all except the intestinal and placental ones are blocked by levamisole. Phosphate is another inhibitor which competitively inhibits alkaline phosphatase. Another known example of an alkaline phosphatase inhibitor is [(4-Nitrophenyl)methyl]phosphonic acid. In metal contaminated soil, alkaline phosphatase are inhibited by Cd (Cadmium). In addition, temperature enhances the inhibition of Cd on the enzyme activity, which is shown in the increasing values of Km. In humans, alkaline phosphatase is present in all tissues throughout the body, but is particularly concentrated in the liver, bile duct, kidney, bone, intestinal mucosa and placenta. In the serum, two types of alkaline phosphatase isozymes predominate: skeletal and liver. During childhood the majority of alkaline phosphatase are of skeletal origin. Humans and most other mammals contain the following alkaline phosphatase isozymes:
Deoxyribozymes, also called DNAzymes or catalytic DNA, were first discovered in 1994. They are mostly single stranded DNA sequences isolated from a large pool of random DNA sequences through a combinatorial approach called in vitro selection or systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). DNAzymes catalyze variety of chemical reactions including RNA-DNA cleavage, RNA-DNA ligation, amino acids phosphorylation-dephosphorylation, carbon-carbon bond formation, etc. DNAzymes can enhance catalytic rate of chemical reactions up to 100,000,000,000-fold over the uncatalyzed reaction. The most extensively studied class of DNAzymes is RNA-cleaving types which have been used to detect different metal ions and designing therapeutic agents. Several metal-specific DNAzymes have been reported including the GR-5 DNAzyme (lead-specific), the CA1-3 DNAzymes (copper-specific), the 39E DNAzyme (uranyl-specific) and the NaA43 DNAzyme (sodium-specific). The NaA43 DNAzyme, which is reported to be more than 10,000-fold selective for sodium over other metal ions, was used to make a real-time sodium sensor in cells.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Protomastigineae, in which absorption of food-particles in holozoic nutrition occurs at a localised point of the cell surface, often at a cytostome, although many groups were merely saprophytes; it included the majority of colourless flagellates, and even many "apochlorotic" algae; Pantostomatineae (or Rhizomastigineae), in which the absorption takes place at any point on the cell surface; roughly corresponds to "amoeboflagellates"; Distomatineae, a group of binucleate "double individuals" with symmetrically distributed flagella and, in many species, two symmetrical mouths; roughly corresponds to current Diplomonadida. Presently, these groups are known to be highly polyphyletic. In modern classifications of the protists, the principal flagellated taxa are placed in the following eukaryote groups, which include also non-flagellated forms (where "A", "F", "P" and "S" stands for autotrophic, free-living heterotrophic, parasitic and symbiotic, respectively):
In 1996, the US had about 2 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles, compared to 1.9 in Germany, 2.6 in France, and 1.5 in the UK. In 1998, there were 3,421 fatal crashes in the UK, the fewest since 1926; in 2010, this number was further reduced to 1,857 and was attributed to the 2009–2010 scrappage scheme. The sizable traffic safety lead enjoyed by the US since the 1960s had narrowed significantly by 2002, with the US improvement percentages lagging in 16th place behind those of Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, Iceland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland in terms of deaths per thousand vehicles, while in terms of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, the US had dropped from first place to tenth place. Transportation safety in the United States is monitored by various agencies.
Once the substrate is bound and oriented to the active site, catalysis can begin. The residues of the catalytic site are typically very close to the binding site, and some residues can have dual-roles in both binding and catalysis. Catalytic residues of the site interact with the substrate to lower the activation energy of a reaction and thereby make it proceed faster. They do this by a number of different mechanisms including the approximation of the reactants, nucleophilic/electrophilic catalysis and acid/base catalysis. These mechanisms will be explained below.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Selank is a synthetic seven-amino-acid peptide modeled on tuftsin, a fragment of the immunoglobulin G heavy chain. It was designed in Russia to combine anxiolytic and immunomodulatory properties in one molecule.
The first four residues of Selank reproduce the tuftsin sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg. A Pro-Gly-Pro extension at the C-terminus was added to slow enzymatic breakdown and extend residence time.
It holds marketing authorization in Russia, where nasal drop formulations are sold. No equivalent approval exists in the European Union, the United States, or most other countries.
The sequence is Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro, written TKPRPGP in one-letter code. It combines the tetrapeptide tuftsin with a carboxyl-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension. This full sequence identifies the molecule more precisely than the research name.