MOTS-c and the ~12x exercise spike (Reynolds et al., 2021)

Altara Lab Notes · Issue 1

What did Reynolds et al. (2021) find?

Reynolds et al., Nature Communications, 2021. Researchers asked whether MOTS-c responds to exercise, and whether it affects physical decline with age.

• Humans: In healthy young men, MOTS-c in skeletal muscle rose 11.9-fold after cycling; circulating levels rose about 1.6-fold.
• Young mice: Treated mice showed markedly better treadmill running capacity than controls.
• Old mice (22 months): Treated animals ran about 2x longer and 2.2x farther than controls.
• Very old mice: Improved grip strength, gait and walking performance, plus lower fat mass with lean mass preserved.

Why do researchers study MOTS-c?

• It’s a mitochondrial-derived peptide: a signal that mitochondria send to the rest of the cell, hidden inside a gene once thought to make only RNA.
• In muscle cells, the work points to effects on glucose and lipid metabolism and stress resistance, involving the HSF1 pathway.

What are the limitations of this study?

The performance and aging results are from mice. In humans, the study measured only how MOTS-c responds to exercise. It did not test giving it. Findings in animals don’t establish effects in people.

Source

Reynolds et al., Nature Communications, 2021. Read the full paper

For educational and scientific information only. Findings are described as published research results, not as claims about use in people. Altara Bio products are sold strictly for laboratory research purposes and are not for human or animal consumption. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.