MOTS-c

Encoded inside the mitochondrion itself

Most of the peptides on this site come from genes that live in the cell nucleus. MOTS-c is different. Its 16-residue sequence (MAFKWMDFLRELLLNL) is read off a small open reading frame tucked inside the 12S rRNA region of mitochondrial DNA. Pinchas Cohen and Changhan Lee's group at USC reported it in 2015, and it sat at the front of a still-young field now called mitochondrial-derived peptides, or MDPs.

That origin matters for how researchers think about it. A peptide written into mtDNA is, in effect, a signal the mitochondrion is allowed to send on its own behalf, without waiting on the nuclear genome. Published preclinical work has put MOTS-c into AMPK activation assays, glucose-handling models, and exercise-mimetic protocols in rodents and cultured myocytes.

Identity, sequence, batch detail

• Class: mitochondrial-derived peptide (MDP)
• Length: 16 amino acids
• Sequence: MAFKWMDFLRELLLNL
• Source gene: small ORF within mtDNA 12S rRNA
• Form supplied: lyophilised white powder, sealed amber vial
• Purity check: HPLC plus mass spec, batch-specific CoA on request

Where the research literature has gone

If you scan PubMed for MOTS-c, three threads dominate. The first is energy sensing: papers track AMPK phosphorylation and downstream metabolic gene expression after MOTS-c exposure in cell lines. The second is glucose and insulin work in obese and aged mouse models, including the Lee 2015 Cell Metabolism paper that pulled the peptide into wider view. The third is the exercise-mimetic angle, Reynolds and colleagues' 2021 Nature Communications report on age-related physical decline being the most cited example.

None of that is human therapy data, and none of it should be read that way. It is a map of where wet-lab groups have pointed MOTS-c so far, which is useful when designing fresh in vitro assays.

From our lab bench to yours

The vials we ship come from a UK or EU synthesis route we have used long enough to know what good batches look like. Around nine in ten UK orders go out and land inside 48 hours, with tracked carriers and discreet outer packaging. Live chat is staffed by people, not bots, during UK working hours, and the same team handles bulk requests of ten vials or more through support pricing rather than the public listing.

Every batch ships with an HPLC and mass spec result tied to that specific lot. If a CoA does not clear our purity threshold once it reaches you, we refund. No restocking math, no insistence that you prove anything.

Researcher questions we hear

• How should it be reconstituted? Bacteriostatic or sterile water, gentle swirl, no shaking. Hold reconstituted peptide at 2 to 8 degrees C and use within a working window your protocol allows.
• Shelf life of the dry powder? Stable at -20 degrees C in the sealed vial for the period stated on the CoA, kept away from light and moisture.
• Is MOTS-c the same family as humanin? Same broad MDP class, different gene location and different signalling footprint in the published assays.

Sold strictly for in vitro laboratory research. Not for human or veterinary use. UK 18+.