MOTS-c is the peptide your own mitochondria encode \u2014 and studies keep finding that the body raises it exactly when energy systems are under productive stress.<\/p>\n
In the 2021 study, acute endurance exercise raised circulating mitochondrial-derived peptides including MOTS-c, while resistance exercise did not \u2014 a specific, repeatable pattern suggesting MOTS-c is part of how mitochondria signal the rest of the body during sustained energy demand.<\/p>\n
Researchers immobilised one leg of healthy volunteers and applied repeated heat treatment. Heat raised circulating MOTS-c in a pattern comparable to exercise \u2014 evidence that the peptide responds to metabolic stress itself, not just movement. The authors flag mitokines like MOTS-c as candidates for protecting muscle during disuse.<\/p>\n
Because MOTS-c is encoded in the mitochondrial genome \u2014 the subject of our MOTS-c explainer<\/a> \u2014 it sits at the centre of the idea that mitochondria actively signal the body. Analogues of the peptide have entered clinical development for metabolic disease, which is where the next round of data will come from.<\/p>\n Yes. Human studies show circulating MOTS-c rises with endurance exercise and repeated heat exposure, and levels have been characterised across several health states.<\/p>\n Endurance exercise and repeated heat stress have both been shown to raise circulating MOTS-c in studies.<\/p>\nFrequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
Is there data on MOTS-c?<\/h3>\n
What raises MOTS-c naturally?<\/h3>\n