Compare prices and buy MOTS-C from 46 research peptide vendors - also called suppliers or sources. Updated daily.
A 16-amino-acid mitochondrial-derived peptide (CAS 1627580-64-6) encoded in a small open reading frame within the 12S ribosomal RNA gene (MT-RNR1). Translocates to the nucleus under metabolic stress to regulate adaptive transcription. It increases AMPK activity, enhances glucose uptake, and protects against diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in rodent models. Observational studies report lower circulating levels with age and in type 2 diabetes. No human trial has reported results.
For research purposes only. Not medical advice.
MOTS-c (mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA type-c) is a 16-amino-acid peptide with an unusual origin: it is encoded not in the cell's nuclear genome but within the mitochondrial genome, in a short open reading frame inside the 12S ribosomal RNA gene (MT-RNR1). This makes it one of a small class of "mitochondrial-derived peptides" (MDPs), alongside humanin and the SHLP family.
Functionally, MOTS-c acts as a metabolic regulator. In cell and rodent studies it activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the cell's central energy-sensing pathway, in part by inhibiting the folate cycle and the de novo purine synthesis linked to it. Under metabolic stress, MOTS-c translocates from the mitochondria to the nucleus, where it helps regulate adaptive nuclear gene expression. These mechanisms are distinct from those of SS-31, another peptide in the Mitochondrial category, which works structurally by binding the inner-membrane lipid cardiolipin.
MOTS-c was identified in 2015 by Changhan Lee, Pinchas Cohen and colleagues at the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and reported in Cell Metabolism. The finding was notable because MOTS-c is encoded in mitochondrial DNA, and the paper cites humanin as its precedent for a signaling peptide encoded there. A 2018 follow-up in the same journal, by Kyung Hwa Kim, Changhan Lee and colleagues, described its stress-dependent translocation to the nucleus.
In preclinical models, MOTS-c has been associated with improved glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity and with reduced diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice. Researchers have also reported that circulating MOTS-c levels tend to decline with age and are lower in people with type 2 diabetes. This is preclinical and observational research, and no controlled human trial of MOTS-c has reported results.
MOTS-c is not approved by the FDA for any indication. FDA's July 2026 briefing document states that the nomination did not include, and FDA did not identify, any clinical studies or human exposure data for MOTS-c by any route of administration.
Its compounding status in the United States has changed twice in recent years:
As with the other peptides reviewed at that meeting, a PCAC recommendation is only advisory: the FDA would still need to add MOTS-c to the 503A list through formal notice-and-comment rulemaking before compounding pharmacies could legally prepare it, and a listing would let pharmacies compound it against individual prescriptions without making it an FDA-approved drug. Material sold by peptide vendors is offered strictly for laboratory research use only and not for human consumption.
Vendors list it as MOTS-c or MOTS-C, sometimes written "MOTSC" or shortened to "MOT-c." FDA's briefing document notes that MOTS-c is a common name rather than a United States Adopted Name, and FDA's Category 2 page spells it "MOTs-C." PeptideScouter indexes it on a per-milligram basis and verifies identity against its molecular formula (C101H152N28O22S2, CAS 1627580-64-6).
A mitochondrial-derived peptide (MDP) is a small peptide encoded within the mitochondrial genome rather than the nuclear genome. MOTS-c is encoded in a short open reading frame inside the 12S ribosomal RNA gene. Humanin and the SHLP peptides are others. This origin is what made MOTS-c's 2015 discovery notable.
MOTS-c was identified in 2015 by Changhan Lee, Pinchas Cohen and colleagues at the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and reported in the journal Cell Metabolism. It was among the first signaling peptides shown to be encoded in mitochondrial DNA.
Both are sold in the mitochondrial category but act differently. MOTS-c is a mitochondrial-DNA-encoded peptide that signals through the AMPK energy-sensing pathway and can move to the nucleus to influence gene expression. SS-31 is a synthetic tetrapeptide that works structurally, binding the inner-membrane lipid cardiolipin. The comparison is mechanistic, not a ranking.
No. MOTS-c is not FDA-approved for any indication, and no human trial has reported results. The evidence base is preclinical (cell and rodent studies) and observational. Material sold by research vendors is for laboratory use only and not for human consumption.
MOTS-C is sold by 46 research peptide vendors indexed on PeptideScouter, with 112 tracked listings compared per vendor in the table above. Pricing is normalized and refreshed daily.
All 46 indexed research peptide vendors currently have MOTS-C in stock. Stock state is refreshed daily from each vendor's catalog.
ZC Labs currently lists MOTS-C at $1.25/mg, the lowest listed price across 46 tracked research peptide vendors. With current vendor discount codes applied, the lowest effective price is $1.12/mg.
Discount codes are issued per vendor rather than per peptide, so any code applies across that vendor's whole catalog. All 46 vendors listing MOTS-C publish a PeptideScouter code, worth 5% to 50% off. Applied, the lowest effective price falls from $1.25/mg listed to $1.12/mg at Studz Peptides. Each vendor's code is shown beside its price in the table above.
MOTS-C ranges from $1.25/mg to $8.90/mg across 112 listings from 46 research peptide vendors, normalized to USD per milligram and refreshed daily.
46 research peptide vendors currently list MOTS-C on PeptideScouter. We track 112 listings across size and kit variants.
MOTS-C's CAS Registry Number is 1627580-64-6. It is also sold as MOT-C, MOTSC.
