North & North · Peptide Catalog
MOTS-c
Mitochondrial Open Reading Frame Peptide
Almost every peptide in your body is written in the cell nucleus. This one is written inside the mitochondria, which is exactly what made it worth a second look.
The short version
What MOTS-c actually is
It was only found in 2015, and the discovery reframed what mitochondria are understood to be for. Instructions for a peptide sitting inside them suggested they are not simply the cell’s power supply, they are sending messages out to the rest of it. Sixteen amino acids, transcribed from a short reading frame in mitochondrial DNA.
Sold for research purposes only.
The mechanism
How MOTS-c Works
Mitochondria were supposed to just make energy. It turns out they are also sending messages.
MOTS-c interrupts the folate cycle and the purine building that depends on it. Slow that pathway down and the cell notices its energy books are off, which flips on AMPK, one of the master fuel sensors in the body. That is the proposed bridge, and it is a genuinely wild one: a peptide written inside mitochondria reaching out to influence how an entire organism handles energy. Skeletal muscle looks like where it lands hardest.
Where the science stands
Key Research Areas
- 01
Blood sugar and insulin
The founding work put MOTS-c into models of insulin resistance and diet driven weight gain. That is still where most of the attention sits, and where the first human trial is aimed.
- 02
The exercise connection
Levels of it rise when you exercise. That single observation is why researchers started calling it an exercise mimetic, and why they keep asking what it is actually signaling.
- 03
The energy switch
It interferes with a pathway cells use to build purines. Slow that down and the cell notices its energy books are off, which flips on AMPK, one of the body’s master fuel sensors.
- 04
Aging
Mitochondria get less efficient as we age. Since this one is written inside them, it lands in longevity research as often as it lands in metabolic research.
The evidence
What the Research Actually Did
The one to watch. A trial recruiting since February 2026 is giving MOTS-c to 120 adults with prediabetes against placebo, nobody told which. It is the first proper test of it as something you administer rather than something you measure.
Hudson Biotech. Phase 2a study in prediabetes and insulin resistance, recruiting since February 2026. NCT07505745.Measured what actually happens to circulating mitochondrial microproteins during and after a hard endurance session, which is the exercise link tested directly rather than assumed.
Circulating mitochondrial-derived microproteins in response to endurance exercise. Exp Physiol, August 2026.A 2026 review of the whole odd category MOTS-c belongs to: tiny proteins written in stretches of DNA nobody expected to be coding for anything.
Emerging regulators of human physiology and disease: sORF-encoded microproteins. Epigenomics, August 2026.
We pulled this together from published work and linked every source, so you never have to take our word for it. Nothing here is a claim about what these compounds do. We would rather you read the sources than trust the summary.
Quality and supply
MOTS-c Specifications
- Product contents
- MOTS-c lyophilized powder in 3mL vial
- Available size
- 20mg
- Peptide type
- Mitochondrial Open Reading Frame Peptide. Hexadecapeptide, 16 amino acids, MT-RNR1 encoded
- Purity
- >99% Purity · HPLC
- Storage
- Store at 6°C or below, sealed, away from heat, light, and moisture
- Solubility
- Soluble in water
- Fulfillment
- USA domestic fulfillment
- Molecular formula
- C101H152N28O22S2
- Molecular weight
- 2174.64 g/mol
- Sequence
- Met-Arg-Trp-Gln-Glu-Met-Gly-Tyr-Ile-Phe-Tyr-Pro-Arg-Lys-Leu-Arg
- CAS number
- 1627580-64-6
- PubChem CID
- 146675088
- Synonyms
- MOTSc, MOTS c, Mitochondrial Open Reading Frame of the 12S rRNA-c
- Appearance
- White to off white lyophilized powder
Common questions
Questions People Ask
What is MOTS-c?
A sixteen amino acid peptide encoded inside mitochondrial DNA rather than in the cell nucleus. Research centers on metabolism, exercise response and aging. Sold for research purposes only.
Why does it matter that it comes from mitochondria?
Almost every peptide in the body is written in the nucleus. Finding one encoded inside mitochondria suggested they are not simply the cell’s power supply but are sending signals out to the rest of it. That is what made the 2015 discovery notable.
Is there any human research?
Most published work is preclinical, and human studies have largely measured naturally occurring MOTS-c rather than administering it. That changed in February 2026, when a Phase 2 trial in prediabetes began recruiting. Results are not published yet.
What is the connection to exercise?
Levels of it rise during and after exercise. That observation is why it is often described as an exercise mimetic in the literature, and why researchers keep asking what it is actually signaling when it does.
How should it be stored?
Sealed, at 6°C or below, away from heat, light and moisture. It ships as a lyophilized powder, which is the stable form.
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