MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis

MOTS-c improved physical performance in young, middle-aged and old mice, even when treatment began late in life. In humans, the endogenous peptide rose in muscle and blood after exercise.

Key points

• In mice aged 2, 12 and 22 months, MOTS-c increased physical performance.
• Intermittent treatment started only at 23.5 months improved grip strength, gait and running capacity; the effect on lifespan remained a statistically borderline trend.
• In ten young men, MOTS-c rose about twelvefold in skeletal muscle and about one and a half times in plasma after exercise, returning to baseline in blood after four hours of rest.

Assessment

Evidence type: preclinical, with observational human data. The effect findings come from mouse models. The human measurements only show that exercise raises the endogenous peptide; they say nothing about administered MOTS-c. Profile: MOTS-c.