Semax/Selank

What is Semax + Selank Mix

Semax and Selank are two short synthetic peptides that came out of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Semax is a stable analog of the ACTH 4-7 fragment, with a Pro-Gly-Pro tail appended after the core to slow enzymatic breakdown. Selank is an analog of tuftsin, the natural immunomodulatory tetrapeptide, with the same Pro-Gly-Pro stabilizer at the end. Both have been studied in Russia for several decades and are well represented in the international peptide literature.

The mix is a co-lyophilized (freeze-dried) blend of the two peptides in a single vial. Researchers use this format when they want to study the pair side by side without weighing out two separate aliquots.

How it works

Even though Semax and Selank look similar on paper, they touch different systems.

Semax acts mainly on neurotrophic signaling. Animal work shows it raises brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in the hippocampus and frontal cortex, the same trophic factors that get flagged in learning, memory, and neuron survival research. It also reshapes the brain transcriptome under ischemic stress and shows antidepressant- and antistress-like behavior in chronic stress models.

Selank takes a different route. It nudges the GABAergic system, the brain's main inhibitory network. In neuroblastoma cell cultures it changes the expression of genes coding for GABA receptor subunits, and in rodent models it produces anxiolytic-style behavior without the sedation, dependence, or motor depression associated with benzodiazepines. Selank also keeps a footprint on the immune side, modulating cytokine levels under social-stress paradigms.

When the two are studied together, the pattern is complementary rather than redundant. A functional connectomic study using fMRI in healthy human volunteers found that Selank and Semax produce distinct, mostly non-overlapping patterns of resting-state network change, supporting the idea that the two peptides modulate different circuits at the same time.

Often studied alongside

Most combination work pairs Semax and Selank directly with each other, which is exactly what this blend is for. Researchers running protocols on the individual peptides often want to switch back to single-component vials for dose isolation work.

For reconstitution, the standard solvent in published protocols is bacteriostatic or sterile water. Both peptides go into solution clear and colorless.

Documentation