MOTS-c studies

What was studied

Biochemical assays, mouse muscle, and human genetic observations

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

Cell-free binding assays and mouse administration experiments were combined with observational analyses of a naturally occurring human MOTS-c variant.

What the researchers measured

CK2 binding and activity, muscle atrophy, glucose uptake, tissue-specific signaling, and associations with sarcopenia and diabetes were assessed.

What was studied

Eight-day immobilization model in male mice

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Male mice were randomized to non-immobilized control, cast-immobilized control, or cast immobilization with MOTS-c for eight days.

What the researchers measured

Muscle mass, inflammatory markers, Akt/FOXO signaling, gene expression, and muscle lipid and collagen were measured.

What was studied

Mouse treatment experiments & exercise observations in 10 men

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

MOTS-c administration was studied in mice of different ages. A separate human component measured naturally occurring MOTS-c in muscle and blood after exercise.

What the researchers measured

Mouse physical-performance measures and muscle stress-response pathways, plus exercise-related changes in human MOTS-c levels.

What was studied

Human plasma observations, mouse muscle, and cultured myotubes

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

The paper combined human blood-level associations with cultured mouse muscle cells and diet-induced obese mice.

What the researchers measured

MOTS-c and myostatin levels, muscle-cell atrophy, and CK2/PTEN/mTORC2/Akt/FOXO1 signaling were assessed.

A published correction is linked in the original PubMed record.

What was studied

NOD mice, human type 1 diabetes observations, and T-cell assays

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

Autoimmune-diabetes mouse models and transferred mouse T cells were studied alongside human serum and isolated human T-cell analyses.

What the researchers measured

Blood glucose, islet immune-cell infiltration, diabetes incidence, T-cell metabolism, and activation-related signaling were measured.

What was studied

Mammalian cell experiments with fusion-protein perturbation

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Mammalian cell cultures were exposed to MOTS-c, with inflammatory and gene-suppression experiments to test mitochondrial-fusion pathways.

What the researchers measured

Mitochondrial protein markers and counts, fusion proteins, GLUT4 movement, and glucose uptake were measured.

What was studied

Human genetic cohorts and mouse variant experiments

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

A genetic association analysis across three cohorts totaling 27,527 people was paired with cell and mouse comparisons of MOTS-c and its K14Q variant.

What the researchers measured

Diabetes prevalence, activity-related associations, glucose tolerance, weight, and insulin-related cell responses were assessed.

What was studied

Human endurance, resistance, and control exercise groups

How to read this evidence

Researchers observed people or measured naturally occurring peptide levels. Associations do not show that administering the peptide caused a benefit.

How the study was set up

Thirty people were assigned to endurance exercise, resistance exercise, or control, with blood and muscle samples before and after the session.

What the researchers measured

Circulating humanin and MOTS-c, muscle peptide levels, exercise-related genes, and fitness correlations were measured.

What was studied

Ovariectomized mice

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Mice with surgically removed ovaries were used to model hormone-related metabolic changes, with AMPK-blocking comparisons.

What the researchers measured

Body weight, insulin sensitivity, brown-fat activation, white-fat inflammation, and lipid metabolism were assessed.

What was studied

Mouse skull osteolysis model and bone-cell cultures

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

A mouse particle-induced bone-erosion model was combined with osteocyte and bone-marrow-cell experiments.

What the researchers measured

Bone erosion, inflammation, OPG/RANKL balance, osteoclast formation, and stress-signaling pathways were assessed.

What was studied

Cold-exposed mice and adipose thermogenesis measurements

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Experimental cold-exposure models examined MOTS-c-related responses in fat tissue, with ERK-pathway inhibition.

What the researchers measured

Cold tolerance, serum peptide levels, liver lipid handling, and brown- and white-fat thermogenic genes were measured.

What was studied

Cell experiments under metabolic stress

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Cell experiments examined movement of MOTS-c from mitochondria-related signaling into the nucleus during metabolic stress and glucose restriction.

What the researchers measured

Nuclear localization, AMPK dependence, gene-expression changes, and interactions with stress-responsive transcription factors were measured.

What was studied

Angina patient observations and rodent aortic-ring assays

How to read this evidence

This paper combines observations in people with laboratory or animal experiments. Measuring a naturally occurring peptide in people is different from testing peptide administration.

How the study was set up

Forty patients undergoing coronary testing were grouped by endothelial function; separate experiments used rodent aortic rings.

What the researchers measured

Naturally occurring blood MOTS-c levels and coronary responses were compared. Isolated vessels were tested for relaxation responses.

What was studied

Ovariectomized mice and osteoclast experiments

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

Mice after ovary removal were studied over 12 weeks, alongside experiments on formation of bone-resorbing cells.

What the researchers measured

Micro-CT bone loss, osteoclast differentiation, and AMPK activation with inhibitor comparisons were assessed.

What was studied

Cell experiments & mouse models

How to read this evidence

Researchers studied cells, isolated tissue, or animals. These experiments can help explain a mechanism, but do not establish benefits or safety in people. Human cells grown in a laboratory also belong in this category.

How the study was set up

The researchers identified MOTS-c and investigated its activity in cell experiments and mouse models of diet- and age-related metabolic changes.

What the researchers measured

Cellular metabolic pathways, AMPK signaling, insulin sensitivity, and diet-related metabolic outcomes in mice. AMPK is a protein involved in regulating cellular energy use.