SELANK

Selank is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro (C33H57N11O9, molecular weight 751.9 g/mol, CAS 129954-34-3). It was synthesized as an analog of the endogenous peptide tuftsin and ends in a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, the same tail carried by semax. Studies with tritium-labeled selank in blood plasma identified the pentapeptide Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro, the tripeptide Thr-Lys-Pro and the dipeptides Arg-Pro and Gly-Pro as its main breakdown products.

SELANK in the research literature

Research on selank has centered on GABAergic signaling and gene expression. In radioligand binding assays on brain membrane preparations, selank behaved as a positive allosteric modulator of [3H]GABA binding. Its binding site appeared distinct from those of diazepam and olanzapine, though the sites may partly overlap. A real-time PCR panel of 84 neurotransmission genes in rat frontal cortex found expression changes in 45 genes one hour after exposure to selank, and those changes correlated with the changes produced by GABA itself.

In plasma assays, selank inhibited enkephalin hydrolysis in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 of about 15 micromolar. In rats with long-term ethanol exposure, ex vivo measurements showed that hippocampal and frontal cortex BDNF content in selank-exposed animals lacked the rise seen with ethanol alone.