MOTS-c Peptide Pen (Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide) | 60mg

MOTS-c is a mitochondrial-derived peptide, supplied here pre-mixed at 60 mg in a 3 ml stabilised cartridge at a stated 20 mg/ml. No lyophilised powder and no reconstitution step.

What MOTS-c is

MOTS-c stands for mitochondrial open reading frame of the twelve S rRNA type-c, and the name describes something genuinely unusual. Most peptides of research interest are encoded in nuclear DNA. MOTS-c is encoded within an open reading frame in the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene — the mitochondrion's own genome — which makes it one of a small class of molecules known as mitochondrial-derived peptides.

The sequence is MRWQEMGYIFYPRKLA, sixteen residues, 2174.6 g/mol. It carries two methionine residues, which is worth knowing because methionine is the residue most prone to oxidation and this peptide has twice the usual exposure to that route of degradation.

Its significance in the literature is conceptual as much as pharmacological: it is evidence that the mitochondrial genome encodes signalling molecules that act outside the mitochondrion, which reframes the organelle as a signalling participant rather than only a metabolic one.

MOTS-c pen: the same thing under a shorter name

Most people searching for this product type “mots-c pen” rather than the full compound name, and the two mean the same thing. A mots-c pen is a pre-filled MOTS-c cartridge in a dial-dosing pen, as opposed to lyophilised powder in a vial.

This pen holds 60 mg in a sealed 3 ml cartridge, at 20 mg/ml. The dial is graduated at 25 clicks = 5 mg. Those are device figures — what the mechanism displaces, not what should be dispensed.

Applications in research

• AMPK signalling. The primary characterised pathway. MOTS-c is studied as an activator of AMP-activated protein kinase, with phosphorylation state as the measured endpoint.
• Folate cycle and purine biosynthesis. The originating work implicated the folate-dependent one-carbon pathway and accumulation of the AMPK-activating intermediate AICAR, which is the proposed upstream mechanism.
• Mitochondrial-derived peptide biology. Comparative work alongside humanin and the SHLP series, establishing what this class of molecule has in common.
• Metabolic gene expression. Transcriptional profiling in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue preparations, where the peptide is applied as a defined stimulus.

The published work is predominantly cell-based and rodent. Human data is limited and largely observational, concerning endogenous circulating levels rather than administered peptide. That describes the molecule and not this material.

Legal status in the UK

MOTS-c is not a licensed medicine in any territory and holds no marketing authorisation from the MHRA, EMA or FDA. It has never entered a clinical development programme.

It is not a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, so buying and possessing it in the UK for laboratory research is lawful. Supplying it for human or veterinary consumption is not, and would engage the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Every cartridge is labelled and supplied strictly for in-vitro research use.

What you are actually comparing between listings

• Total mass. This cartridge holds 60 mg. MOTS-c is typically sold in 5 mg or 10 mg vials, so one unit here carries six to twelve times the peptide of a standard listing. This is one of the widest mass gaps in the catalogue and the headline prices are not comparable.
• Format. Pre-mixed solution at a stated 20 mg/ml against lyophilised powder requiring bacteriostatic water and a concentration calculation.
• Cost per milligram. At £140 for 60 mg this works out at £2.33 per mg.

Handling and storage

Store at 2–8 °C and protect from light. Keep the cartridge sealed until use, then upright, and observe aseptic technique. Do not freeze. The two methionine residues make this peptide particularly sensitive to oxidative conditions, so light and air exposure warrant more care here than with a comparably sized peptide lacking them. Orders placed before 2pm are dispatched the same working day, cold-packed, in plain outer packaging.

References

Literature on the molecule. These describe MOTS-c as a compound and none is a claim about this product.

1. Lee C, Zeng J, Drew BG, et al. The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metab. 2015;21(3):443–54. PMID 25738459.

Research use only

This material is supplied strictly for in-vitro research and analytical purposes. It is not for human or veterinary administration and not for any diagnostic or therapeutic application. It holds no marketing authorisation in any territory. Confirm the current regulatory position before drafting institutional documentation, and clear the material through your own ethics, COSHH and biosafety processes before ordering.