- MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid peptide whose reading frame sits inside the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene, not in nuclear DNA.
- That is the whole reason it is interesting. Mitochondria were long thought to encode only thirteen proteins, all of them parts of the respiratory chain.
- It was identified in 2015 and belongs to a small, recently described family known as mitochondrial-derived peptides.
- The research is in cultured cells and animal models. MOTS-c is not a licensed medicine anywhere and has no approved use.
Most peptides sold for research are analogues of something the body already makes, engineered to survive longer. MOTS-c is not that. It is a natural peptide that was hiding in a place nobody was looking, and the story of where it was found is most of what makes it worth understanding.
Where it comes from
Human cells carry two genomes. The familiar one is in the nucleus, three billion base pairs, around twenty thousand protein-coding genes. The other is in the mitochondria: a small circular molecule of about 16,569 base pairs, inherited down the maternal line, and long understood to encode just thirteen proteins, all of them subunits of the respiratory chain.
MOTS-c does not come from the nuclear genome. Its reading frame sits inside the 12S ribosomal RNA gene of mitochondrial DNA. The name records this: Mitochondrial Open reading frame of the Twelve S rRNA type-c.
An open reading frame nested inside a ribosomal RNA gene is not where anyone expected to find a peptide, which is why the thirteen-protein figure stood for decades. MOTS-c belongs to a small group, the mitochondrial-derived peptides, that also includes humanin and the SHLP series.
The peptide itself is 16 amino acids with a molecular mass of roughly 2,174 Da. That is small: about half the size of an incretin analogue and six times the size of a tripeptide like KPV.
What has been studied
Lee and colleagues described MOTS-c in Cell Metabolism in 2015, reporting work in cultured cells and in mice and pointing at the folate-methionine cycle and AMP-activated protein kinase as the pathways involved. AMPK is the cell's low-energy sensor, which put the peptide in the metabolic-signalling conversation from the start.
A 2021 paper in Nature Communications by Reynolds and colleagues examined MOTS-c as an exercise-responsive peptide in muscle, again in cell and animal models.
The honest summary of the field is that this is a real and well-characterised molecule with a short literature, almost entirely pre-clinical, and a mechanism that is still being worked out. It has not been through the clinical programme that the incretin compounds have. Anyone describing settled human effects is ahead of the evidence.
Regulatory status
MOTS-c has no marketing authorisation as a medicine anywhere in the world. There is no licensed product to compare a research-grade supply against, which distinguishes it from tirzepatide, where a licensed medicine does exist and the difference between the two products matters a great deal.
In the UK it may lawfully be bought, sold and held for laboratory research, and may not be sold or advertised for human or veterinary use. What that permission covers.
What matters for research supply
For a peptide this new, identity carries more weight than usual, because there is no licensed reference product and comparatively little independent scrutiny of what is on the market.
- Identity. The observed mass should match a 16-residue peptide of roughly 2,174 Da. A number well away from that is a different molecule. How to read a certificate.
- Purity, with the method named. What HPLC and mass spectrometry each tell you.
- Quantity, which purity does not describe. Ninety-nine per cent pure is not ten milligrams.
- Batch traceability — certificate, carton and batch lookup in agreement.
- Storage — 2 to 8°C, dark, not frozen.
How Biovanta supplies it
MOTS-c 40 mg comes in a factory-sealed pre-filled pen with sterile needles and prep swabs, manufactured in Switzerland and dispatched from the UK. Every batch carries an independent Janoshik report with a key you can check on the laboratory's own site; the testing page shows which batches have one. Supplied strictly for in-vitro laboratory research.
Sources
- Lee C, et al. (2015). The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metabolism 21(3), 443-454.
- Reynolds JC, et al. (2021). MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nature Communications 12, 470.
- Anderson S, et al. (1981). Sequence and organization of the human mitochondrial genome. Nature 290, 457-465.
Questions this article answers
What does MOTS-c stand for?
Mitochondrial Open reading frame of the Twelve S ribosomal RNA type-c. The name describes where the gene sits: inside the 12S rRNA gene of mitochondrial DNA.
Why is a mitochondrial-derived peptide unusual?
Because mitochondrial DNA was understood to encode only thirteen proteins, all of them respiratory-chain subunits. MOTS-c is read from a frame nested inside a ribosomal RNA gene, which is not where anyone expected to find a peptide.
Is MOTS-c a licensed medicine?
No. It holds no marketing authorisation anywhere. In the UK it may be bought and held for laboratory research only.
How strong is the evidence base?
Short and almost entirely pre-clinical. The peptide was described in 2015 and the literature is mostly cell culture and animal models. It has not been through a clinical programme.
Want the certificate for a real batch?
Name a compound and we'll send the manufacturer's HPLC-MS certificate for the batch you would receive — before you order, no account needed.