Research library

Longevity & Cellular

MOTS-c

Preclinical, limited human dataMitochondrial derived peptide

Also published as Mitochondrial ORF of the 12S rRNA type-c

A 16 amino acid peptide encoded not in the cell nucleus but in the mitochondrial genome, within the 12S rRNA region. Its discovery was part of a broader finding that mitochondria encode signalling peptides of their own.

Where it came from

Identified by Pinchas Cohen's group at USC in 2015, alongside humanin and the SHLP family of mitochondrial derived peptides.

What the literature examines

  • AMPK activation and cellular energy sensing
  • Insulin sensitivity and glucose handling in mouse models
  • Exercise physiology, including plasma levels after exertion in humans
  • Methionine and folate one carbon metabolism
  • Age related decline in circulating levels

State of the evidence

Furthest it has gotPreclinical, limited human data

Human work to date is largely observational, measuring endogenous plasma levels rather than administering the peptide.

What a buyer should know

Observing that a molecule is lower in older or less metabolically healthy people is not evidence that administering it reverses anything. The interventional data is animal only.

Handling and stability

Lyophilised powder, water soluble. Hold cold once reconstituted.

Read it yourself

We do not publish a curated citation list, because a hand picked list of papers is a sales tool. These links run a live query against the public databases, so you see everything, including the results that do not suit us.

Supplied for laboratory research use only. Nothing on this page is a dose, a protocol or a claim of effect in humans, and nothing here is medical advice. Read our research use policy.