Researchers found that people with ovarian cancer have lower levels of a tiny mitochondrial peptide called MOTS‑c, and giving extra MOTS‑c to cancer cells or mice slowed tumor growth and spread. The peptide works by tagging a protein (LARS1) for destruction, blocking a de‑ubiquitinase (USP7) that would otherwise protect that protein. In animal tests, MOTS‑c reduced tumors without obvious side effects, but no human dosing or safety data are available yet.
Scientists mapped the MOTS‑c peptide in chickens and found it’s similar to the mammalian version but with a small genetic tweak that changes part of its protein sequence. The peptide is found in many chicken tissues, especially the heart, and its levels drop when the birds fast, hinting it helps regulate metabolism. In liver cells, adding MOTS‑c boosts energy‑related pathways and activates AKT signaling, which is linked to growth and metabolism.
Li. Fengfeng F; Jia. Yang Y; Fang. Jun J; Gong. Linqiang L; Zhang. Yazhou Y; Wei. Shanshan S; Wu. Li...
In mice with a brain injury, giving the peptide MOTS‑c helped them remember better, learn faster, and move more normally. The peptide got into the brain, lowered inflammation, and boosted energy‑producing fat burning, suggesting it could protect the brain after trauma, but the study was only in animals.
Bai. Yuanyuan Y; Wu. Haiyan H; Wang. Xu X; Guo. Yang Y; Gong. Bingqing B; Dong. Beibei B; Yu. Yongha...
In mice with sepsis‑induced brain injury, giving the mitochondrial peptide MOTS‑c before the insult boosted survival, lowered sickness scores, reduced brain inflammation, and helped keep the blood‑brain barrier tighter, suggesting it protects the brain during severe infection.
Sharlo. K A KA; Lvova. I D ID; Sidorenko. D A DA; Tyganov. S A SA; Sharlo. D T DT; Shenkman. B S BS
In rats, giving the compound β‑GPA while their hindlimbs were unloaded helped keep the slow‑twitch soleus muscle from getting weaker and more fatigued, preserving its fiber type and mitochondrial content. The drug works by lowering ATP and phosphocreatine, which surprisingly kept key muscle‑maintenance signals active.
A study of older Korean adults found that men with a specific genetic version of the MOTS‑c peptide (the C allele) have more muscle mass and stronger grip compared to men with the common A version, while women showed no difference. This suggests the gene could help predict age‑related muscle loss in men, but it doesn’t test any treatments.
Heldens. Anneleen A; Antwi. Milton M; Onghena. Louis L; Meese. Tim T; Gansemans. Yannick Y; Smet. Jo...
A study in mice shows that a mother’s high‑fat Western diet can cause liver disease and mitochondrial problems in her children, and that the children’s blood levels of the peptide MOTS‑c are linked to how severe the disease is. While the research didn’t test MOTS‑c as a treatment, it suggests the peptide could be a useful marker of liver health, and that targeting mitochondrial function (e.g., with FGF21‑like compounds) may help reverse damage.
Xu. Lingfei L; Tang. Xihui X; Yang. Long L; Chang. Min M; Xu. Yuqing Y; Chen. Qingsong Q; Lu. Chen C...
In diabetic mice, a naturally‑occurring mitochondrial peptide called MOTS‑c was low, and giving extra MOTS‑c helped the mice gain weight, lower blood sugar, and feel less pain. The benefit relied on turning on the AMPK‑PGC‑1α pathway, which boosts new mitochondria and cuts inflammation in the spinal cord. This is an early animal study, so it’s not yet a ready‑to‑use treatment for people.
MOTS‑c is a tiny protein made by mitochondria that can move into the cell nucleus when you’re stressed and help turn on genes that keep cells balanced. Its levels go down as we get older, but giving it to cells improves how muscles handle sugar, hinting it could help with diabetes, weight gain, aging, heart health, and inflammation. The paper mainly reviews what’s known and suggests future ways to use it, but doesn’t give a ready‑to‑use supplement plan.
Du. Caiqi C; Zhang. Cai C; Wu. Wei W; Liang. Yan Y; Wang. Anru A; Wu. Shimin S; Zhao. Yue Y; Hou. Li...
The study found that obese boys aged up to adolescence have lower blood levels of the mitochondrial peptide MOTS‑c compared to healthy peers, and these lower levels are linked to higher body weight and signs of insulin resistance, while girls showed no clear difference.
Tok. Abdullah A; Serdar. Ozer O; Kandilcik. Omer Faruk OF; Alkan-Baylan. Filiz F
The study looked at a tiny protein called MOTS‑c in pregnant women and found that its blood levels stay about the same whether the women are healthy, have mild preeclampsia, or have severe preeclampsia. The researchers didn’t see any link between MOTS‑c and the disease, so there’s no new supplement or treatment suggestion from this work.
Yin. Yadong Y; Pan. Yihui Y; He. Jin J; Zhong. Hong H; Wu. Yangyang Y; Ji. Chenbo C; Liu. Lan L; Cui...
A study in pregnant mice with gestational diabetes showed that daily injections of the mitochondrial peptide MOTS‑c lowered blood sugar, improved insulin response, protected pancreatic cells, and led to healthier baby mice, suggesting it could one day help treat this condition.
A tiny protein called MOTS‑c, made in mitochondria, was given to obese mice and it helped them become more insulin‑sensitive, burn more fat, and lower certain blood fats that are usually high in obesity and diabetes. The study shows how MOTS‑c changes specific metabolic pathways, but it’s only been tested in mice, not people.
Cataldo. Luis Rodrigo LR; Fernández-Verdejo. Rodrigo R; Santos. José Luis JL; Galgani. Jos...
The study measured a naturally occurring peptide called MOTS‑c in the blood of lean and obese people and found that its level is about the same in both groups. In lean people, higher MOTS‑c levels were linked to better insulin sensitivity, but this link disappeared in obese people. This suggests MOTS‑c might reflect metabolic health in non‑obese individuals, but it doesn’t change with obesity itself.
Ozkaya. Duygu Yildiz DY; Haymana. Cem C; Demirci. Ibrahim I; Duman. Umut Göktan UG; Küp&#x...
The study measured a tiny protein called MOTS‑c in the blood of people with obesity and people with normal weight. It found that the amount of MOTS‑c was about the same in both groups, but it tended to be higher in people who had more insulin resistance and lower in older people. It didn’t link MOTS‑c to inflammation or blood‑vessel health.
Wang. Dan-Dan DD; Xu. Bo B; Sun. Jiao-Jiao JJ; Sui. Meng M; Li. Sheng-Peng SP; Chen. Yi-Jing YJ; Zha...
The study found that the tiny protein MOTS‑c, which the body makes in mitochondria, can protect lung blood vessels from damage caused by cutting off and then restoring blood flow. In mice, giving MOTS‑c worked just like a special pre‑conditioning trick (RIPC) that doctors sometimes use before surgery, and it helped keep the lung’s tiny blood‑vessel walls intact by boosting a protective factor called Nrf2.
D'Souza. Randall F RF; Woodhead. Jonathan S T JST; Hedges. Christopher P CP; Zeng. Nina N; Wan. Junx...
The study found that as men get older, the amount of the tiny protein MOTS‑c in their blood drops, but the amount inside their muscles goes up, especially in muscles that are more like endurance (slow‑type) fibers, and this seems to be linked to better muscle strength for their size.
The study looked at a tiny mitochondrial peptide called MOTS‑c in heart‑attack patients. Overall levels of MOTS‑c weren’t different from healthy people, but the peptide changed over time after a heart attack and was linked to higher platelet counts and troponin I, two markers of heart damage. This hints that MOTS‑c might help doctors track heart‑attack severity, but it doesn’t tell us how to use it for self‑treatment.
Bień. Jakub J; Pruszyńska-Oszmałek. Ewa E; Kołodziejski. Paweł P; Leci...
A lab study using pancreatic cell lines found that the mitochondrial peptide MOTS‑c can reduce insulin release from beta‑cells and increase glucagon release from alpha‑cells, while also influencing cell survival. The peptide’s own release is affected by hormones and nutrients like glucose and fatty acids, showing a two‑way interaction with pancreatic metabolism.
Yin. Xinqiang X; Jing. Yuanyuan Y; Chen. Quan Q; Abbas. Abdul Baset AB; Hu. Jialiang J; Xu. Hanmei H
In mice, giving MOTS‑c by injection lowered pain and inflammation, likely by turning on the AMPK pathway and shutting down some stress‑related signals in the spinal cord. The effect disappeared when an AMPK blocker was used, showing the pathway is important.