MOTS-C 10mg | Metabolism & Insulin Sensitivity Research Peptide

MOTS-c (Mitochondrial Open Reading Frame of the 12S rRNA-c) is a 16 amino acid peptide with the sequence MRWQEMGYIFYPRKLR. It belongs to a small but growing class of molecules called mitochondrial derived peptides (MDPs), short peptides encoded within the mitochondrial genome rather than nuclear DNA. MOTS-c was first identified in 2015 by researchers at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, who discovered it as a novel mitochondrial signaling molecule with potent metabolic regulatory functions.

The foundational research on MOTS-c demonstrated that it activates AMPK (AMP activated protein kinase), often described as the master metabolic sensor of the cell, triggering a cascade of effects including enhanced glucose uptake, improved insulin sensitivity and increased fatty acid oxidation. In published animal studies, MOTS-c treatment prevented high fat diet induced weight gain and insulin resistance and in older mice it restored insulin sensitivity that had declined with age. The peptide also caused a substantial increase in endogenous AICAR levels via the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway, a finding tied to its metabolic reprogramming effects.

Notably, circulating MOTS-c levels rise during exercise in humans, leading researchers to characterize it as an exercise mimetic, a molecule capable of replicating some of the metabolic benefits of physical activity at the cellular level. MOTS-c is also distinctive for its ability to translocate from the mitochondria to the cell nucleus under conditions of metabolic stress, where it directly regulates the expression of nuclear genes involved in metabolic adaptation.