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Reviews MOTS-c
Reviews MOTS-c

the papers and FDA pages behind each claim

Check the sources for each MOTS-c peptide claim

Each link tells you whether researchers tested people, mice, or cells and what the test found.

Return to the findingsCheck the bone studies

How to match a claim to its source

Each claim ends with a number that matches an entry below. PubMed, the U.S. medical research library, holds the study links. There you'll find a summary and the journal details. The MOTS-c legal status page links straight to FDA pages. A review gathers older work; it isn't a new test.

What the study and FDA entries cover

Entries 1 through 16 are studies and review papers. Some tested mice or cells in dishes. Others measured natural MOTS-c in people without giving shots.

Entries 17 through 19 come from FDA. Those pages explain pharmacy rules. They don't prove any claim about your health.

  1. Lee C, Zeng J, Drew BG, Sallam T, Martin-Montalvo A, Wan J, Kim SJ, Mehta H, Hevener AL, de Cabo R, Cohen P. The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metab. 2015;21(3):443-454. ↗
  2. Reynolds JC, Lai RW, Woodhead JST, Joly JH, Mitchell CJ, Cameron-Smith D, Lu R, Cohen P, Graham NA, Benayoun BA, Merry TL, Lee C. MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):470. ↗
  3. Kim KH, Son JM, Benayoun BA, Lee C. The Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Nuclear Gene Expression in Response to Metabolic Stress. Cell Metab. 2018;28(3):516-524.e7. ↗
  4. Wan W, Zhang L, Lin Y, Rao X, Wang X, Hua F, Ying J. Mitochondria-derived peptide MOTS-c: effects and mechanisms related to stress, metabolism and aging. J Transl Med. 2023;21(1):36. ↗
  5. Ming W, Lu G, Sha X, et al. Mitochondria related peptide MOTS-c suppresses ovariectomy-induced bone loss via AMPK activation. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016;476(4):412-419. ↗
  6. Yi X, Hu G, Yang Y, Li J, Jin J, Chang B. Role of MOTS-c in the regulation of bone metabolism. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1149120. ↗
  7. Lu H, Wei M, Zhai Y, Li Q, Ye Z, Wang L, Luo W, Chen J, Lu Z. MOTS-c peptide regulates adipose homeostasis to prevent ovariectomy-induced metabolic dysfunction. J Mol Med (Berl). 2019;97(4):473-485. ↗
  8. Che N, Qiu W, Wang JK, Sun XX, Xu LX, Liu R, Gu L. MOTS-c improves osteoporosis by promoting the synthesis of type I collagen in osteoblasts via TGF-beta/SMAD signaling pathway. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2019;23(8):3194-3201. ↗
  9. Domin R, Pytka M, Ruchala M. MOTS-c Serum Concentration Positively Correlates with Lower-Body Muscle Strength and Is Not Related to Maximal Oxygen Uptake - A Preliminary Study. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(19):14951. ↗
  10. Mohtashami Z, Singh MK, Salimiaghdam N, Ozgul M, Kenney MC. MOTS-c, the Most Recent Mitochondrial Derived Peptide in Human Aging and Age-Related Diseases. Int J Mol Sci. 2022;23(19):11991. ↗
  11. Lee C. Nuclear transcriptional regulation by mitochondrial-encoded MOTS-c. Mol Cell Oncol. 2019;6(2):e1549464. ↗
  12. Editorial synthesis of MOTS-c evidence limitations and controversies (no completed human efficacy or safety trials; no validated human pharmacokinetics; research-chemical status with supplier-variable purity; WADA/USADA anti-doping prohibition; single-lab and small-sample reliance for some findings; the m.1382A>C pro-diabetogenic variant and ancestry-dependent responses), drawn from the cited reviews (Wan 2023, J Transl Med; Mohtashami 2022; Zheng 2023) and the compound compliance record. ↗
  13. Kumagai H, Kim SJ, Miller B, et al. MOTS-c modulates skeletal muscle function by directly binding and activating CK2. iScience. 2024;27(11):111212. ↗
  14. Bolignano D, Greco M, Presta P, Duni A, et al. The Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide MOTS-c May Refine Mortality and Cardiovascular Risk Prediction in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients: A Multicenter Cohort Study. Blood Purif. 2024. ↗
  15. Li K, Yang T, Chen F, et al. MOTS-c attenuates mitochondrial dysfunction, induces pyroptosis and cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis via an Nrf2-Dependent Mechanism. Free Radic Biol Med. 2025. ↗
  16. Zheng Y, Wei Z, Wang T. MOTS-c: A promising mitochondrial-derived peptide for therapeutic exploitation. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023;14:1120533. ↗
  17. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding Under Section 503A of the FD&C Act. FDA; verified 2026-05-29. ↗
  18. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Human Drug Compounding — Section 503A patient-specific compounding and Section 503B outsourcing facilities (the lawful prescriber-evaluation, prescription, and dispensing pathway). FDA; verified 2026-05-29. ↗
  19. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. July 23-24, 2026: Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee — agenda lists BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, and MOTS-c as bulk drug substances being considered for inclusion on the 503A Bulks List. FDA; verified 2026-05-29 (a scheduled discussion, not a decision). ↗