MOTS-C

MOTS-c is one of the few peptides coded by mitochondrial DNA rather than the nucleus. Its 16 residues are read from a short open reading frame inside the MT-RNR1 gene, the stretch that also encodes the mitochondria's 12S ribosomal RNA. That origin is why MOTS-c peptides sit at the center of research on how mitochondria signal to the rest of the cell, from muscle metabolism to stress responses in the lung and liver.

Here's why the sequence matters so much. In 2024, iScience reported that MOTS-c works through the kinase CK2, and that K14Q MOTS-c, a naturally occurring variant with glutamine in place of lysine at position 14, binds CK2 poorly and fails to activate it or produce its effects. A vial is only as useful as its sequence is exact. Titan Core publishes the full sequence below, and every batch goes to an independent lab for HPLC purity and mass spectrometry, which catches missing, extra or swapped residues that shift the chain's weight. It's made in the USA, and the report you can download here carries the same LOT number as your vial. MOTS-c is sold for laboratory research only and isn't for human or animal use.