MOTSC
MOTS-c
A 16-amino-acid peptide encoded not in the nuclear genome but within the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene, one of a small group of mitochondrial-derived peptides. No cell-surface receptor for it has been established; the published work describes intracellular activity, and the mechanism is not settled.
MOTS-c has 1 registered human study on ClinicalTrials.gov, reaching phase 2, covering 120 planned or enrolled participants across the 1 study that published a figure. No FDA-approved product contains MOTS-c. 239 papers naming it were published in the last ten years.
Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Counts include only trials whose registered intervention names MOTS-c; the registry search is fuzzy, so every match is re-checked. None of this says whether MOTS-c works or is safe.
FDA status
Research only
Human studies
1
Furthest phase
Phase 2
Papers, 10 yr
239
Readership
4,082
monthly average, Feb–Jul 2026
Tracking since 2026-07-29 · About this data
What has actually been tested in humans
Phase 1 or 2 only
1
Registered human studies
Phase 2
Furthest phase reached
120
Planned or enrolled participants, across 1 study that published a figure
None
No FDA-approved product contains it
5 loose registry matches were checked and 1 confirmed — 4 named something else and were discarded. We count a study only when MOTS-c is named as an intervention in it.
Registered means registered — not that the study finished, and not that it found anything. The grade is mechanical: it is computed from the registry and the FDA record alone, and it grades how much is known, never whether a compound is good or safe. Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Check the query.
What MOTS-c is, and what it has been studied for
MOTS-c is tracked here.
Across 1 registered trial, it has been studied in Prediabetes, Insulin Resistance and Overweight/Obesity. A condition here is what a sponsor registered the trial under — it records what was investigated, not what was shown.
The trials were run by Hudson Biotech. A named commercial sponsor means a compound is in formal development; its absence does not mean the opposite, only that no company has registered a trial under its own name.
How far it got
MOTS-c reached Phase 2 across 1 registered trial.
No FDA-approved product contains MOTS-c. A compound can stop at any rung for commercial reasons as easily as scientific ones, and the registry does not record which.
Is anyone studying MOTS-c?
Papers published each year that name MOTS-c in the title or abstract, with the clinical trials that started in the same year marked beneath. Ten calendar years.
| Year | Publications | Trials started | Complete year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | Yes |
| 2018 | 10 | 0 | Yes |
| 2019 | 19 | 0 | Yes |
| 2020 | 16 | 0 | Yes |
| 2021 | 35 | 0 | Yes |
| 2022 | 25 | 0 | Yes |
| 2023 | 36 | 0 | Yes |
| 2024 | 36 | 0 | Yes |
| 2025 | 47 | 0 | Yes |
| 2026 | 38 | 1 | No |
239 papers and 1 registered trials between 2017 and 2026. A paper counts when “MOTS-c” appears in its title or abstract — phrase-matched, so a paper mentioning the words separately is not counted. The total is a single query over the whole window, which is why it does not equal the bars added together: PubMed files a paper under both its electronic and its print publication date, so one paper can appear in two years. Publication volume measures scientific attention, not whether a compound works: a well-studied compound can be well-studied and ineffective. Sources: PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov · collected 2026-08-02.
Published research on MOTS-c
239 indexed papers name MOTS-c in their title or abstract. These are the 8 PubMed ranks most relevant. Listing a paper is not a judgement about it, and none of these is summarised here — follow the link and read what it says.
- MOTS-c: A promising mitochondrial-derived peptide for therapeutic exploitation
- The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance
- Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide MOTS-c Suppresses Ovarian Cancer Progression by Attenuating USP7-Mediated LARS1 Deubiquitination
- The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c relieves hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in gestational diabetes mellitus
- MOTS-c attenuates lung ischemia-reperfusion injury via MYH9-Dependent nuclear translocation and transcriptional activation of antioxidant genes
- MOTS-c Functionally Prevents Metabolic Disorders
- The Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Nuclear Gene Expression in Response to Metabolic Stress
- MOTS-c: Magical Molecule for Diabetic Cardiomyopathy?
Collected 2026-08-02from PubMed, phrase-matched on “MOTS-c” in title and abstract. Run the same search.
About MOTS-c
A 16-amino-acid peptide encoded not in the nuclear genome but within the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene, one of a small group of mitochondrial-derived peptides. No cell-surface receptor for it has been established; the published work describes intracellular activity, and the mechanism is not settled.
Structure and mechanism only. Nothing above describes what this compound is for, and no dose appears anywhere on this page.
Reading on this compound
All articles →PepRack articles that reference this compound. This is not a news feed — we syndicate nothing and publish no datelines.
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