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MOTS-c in Perth

MOTS-c is a short peptide whose genetic instructions sit inside MT-RNR1 in the mitochondrial genome, with its identity described by Lee and colleagues in Cell Metabolism in 2015. The Perth catalogue records a freeze-dried reference material and a qualified database identifier, while the scientific papers, sport listing and Australian classification record each answer a separate question.

Published 2026-10-02Updated 2026-10-02Written by Form Laboratories research team10 min read

Your cells have a second set of instructions. Alongside DNA in the nucleus, mitochondria carry a smaller genome of their own, as Kim and colleagues explain in their 2018 paper. Mitochondria trace their origin to a once separate bacterium, the evolutionary background described by von der Dunk and colleagues in 2023. That small inherited instruction book is where the story of MOTS-c in Perth begins, within the Perth research peptides hub.

A genomic address means the place in DNA where a sequence is encoded. MOTS-c has an unusually specific one: a short stretch within the mitochondrial gene MT-RNR1, according to the Form Laboratories catalogue. Following that address makes the name, the research and the paperwork easier to keep apart. The sequence tells one story; a sport listing tells another. Neither should quietly replace the other.

Key facts

Key facts for MOTS-c in Perth: a Peptide Written in Mitochondrial DNA
Common nameMOTS-c
Full nameMitochondrial ORF of the 12S rRNA type-c — catalogue
Encoded inMitochondrial DNA; MT-RNR1 short open reading frame — catalogue
SequenceMRWQEMGYIFYPRKLR
Length16 amino acids — Form Laboratories record
CAS1627580-64-6 (database and catalogue identifier)
Molecular formulaC101H152N28O22S2
Molecular weight2174.6 g/mol — catalogue spec sheet
Identified inLee et al., Cell Metabolism, 2015
Sport recordProhibited in sport — Sport Integrity Australia; retrieved 9 September 2026
October instrument searchNo individual entry for recorded MOTS-c variants; F2026L01327, checked 1 October 2026 UTC
TGA class definitionUnapproved peptide goods: not included in the ARTG — advisory, 13 April 2026
FormatFreeze-dried — catalogue
Form Laboratories catalogueTGA · 13 April 2026Lee et al. · 2015

What is MOTS-c?

MOTS-c is a peptide of sixteen amino acids encoded within the mitochondrial MT-RNR1 region, according to the Form Laboratories identity record. Amino acids are the linked units that make up a peptide, in the TGA’s peptide explanation dated 13 April 2026. The long name refers to a mitochondrial reading frame associated with 12S ribosomal RNA. An open reading frame is a stretch of genetic code that can specify a peptide. Here, the address belongs to mitochondrial DNA, rather than the genome held in the nucleus. That distinction is the starting point for reading the literature.

The MOTS-c research guide gathers the studies behind this identity. Lee and colleagues reported the discovery in Cell Metabolism in 2015. The catalogue also prints the sequence MRWQEMGYIFYPRKLR. Those letters identify the amino-acid order, rather than a product effect. A short name can travel between a paper, a sport page and a catalogue. The genomic location and the written sequence keep the scientific subject recognisable across those different records.

Catalogue research summariesKumagai et al. · 2024

Evidence limits

What can the MOTS-c papers establish here?

MOTS-c research on this page establishes laboratory observations in cells and mice, with a distinct genetic-association component in the 2024 paper, rather than a human treatment outcome. The catalogue separates those settings in its summaries of Lee, Kim and Kumagai. A genetic association links a natural variant with observations in people; it does not test a supplied reference material. The human-linked part of Kumagai and colleagues’ study therefore stays labelled as association research. This page reports no clinical result for a person receiving MOTS-c, and makes no claim about an exercise or performance outcome.

The evidence is interesting because its questions are precise. A cell experiment can examine where a peptide is detected. A mouse model can examine a named tissue. An association study can compare inherited variants. These questions do not become interchangeable when they share a molecule’s name. Keeping the experimental setting beside each finding leaves room for curiosity without turning a scientific observation into a promise attached to a vial.

Lee et al. · 2015Kim et al. · 2018Form Laboratories MT-RNR1 record

Why does mitochondrial DNA matter for MOTS-c?

MOTS-c matters to mitochondrial genetics because its code sits inside a gene associated with ribosomal RNA, rather than in the nuclear genome. MT-RNR1 is the mitochondrial gene for 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), as the catalogue names it. The discovery paper places a short reading frame within that region. Kim and colleagues’ 2018 paper describes the mitochondrion and the nucleus as organelles that each possess their own genome. The smaller instruction set can therefore be read for more than the familiar label on a gene.

The word “inside” matters. MT-RNR1 is the larger gene context; the short reading frame is a particular stretch within it. Those descriptions refer to different scales of the same genetic address. A region associated with RNA can also contain a peptide-coding frame, as Lee’s 2015 identification showed. The surprising part is the extra information tucked into that region. MOTS-c belongs to the discussion because of where its instructions are written, before any experiment asks what the peptide might do.

Cell Metabolism · Lee et al., 2015Form Laboratories literature record

How was MOTS-c identified in 2015?

Lee and colleagues identified MOTS-c by investigating a short reading frame in mitochondrial 12S rRNA in their 2015 Cell Metabolism study. The published figures describe work with human HeLa cells, including a comparison with HeLa cells lacking mitochondrial DNA. The team examined the corresponding RNA and peptide signals in those cell systems. That is a molecular-origin question: whether the small stretch of code and the detected peptide belong together. The paper’s experimental context is useful because the discovery concerns a specific genetic region, not merely a new name for a catalogue item.

Lee’s cell work also linked MOTS-c with AMPK through the folate and one-carbon pathway, as recorded in the catalogue’s 2015 summary. AMPK is named as an energy-sensing pathway in the catalogue; a pathway is a connected set of cellular processes. The finding stays within the cells studied. The origin story opens a field of inquiry into peptides encoded by mitochondrial DNA. It does not mean that the smaller genome had previously been known to contain no peptide instructions: Lee’s abstract already discusses humanin as a preceding example.

Kim et al. · Cell Metabolism, 2018Kumagai et al. · iScience, 2024

What did the later MOTS-c studies examine?

Kim’s 2018 Cell Metabolism paper examined movement of MOTS-c into the nucleus in human cell lines under glucose restriction, while Kumagai’s 2024 iScience study investigated CK2 binding in laboratory systems and mice. In the human cell-line work under glucose restriction, the catalogue records the nuclear finding as stress-response gene regulation involving NRF2, a stress-responsive gene regulator, and AMPK. Gene regulation means changing how genetic instructions are read. In cell-free tests and in mice, the later paper tested interaction with CK2, a protein kinase, or enzyme that adds phosphate groups to other proteins. Each result retains its setting: cultured cells for the nuclear work, and the stated laboratory and mouse systems for CK2.

Kumagai and colleagues reported direct MOTS-c binding and CK2 activation in a cell-free assay in 2024. “Cell-free” means the test uses selected components outside a whole cell. The paper separately compared the natural K14Q variant, a change at an amino-acid position, in laboratory experiments and human genetic-association work. Among the compound briefs in this Perth cluster, the 2024 source gives MOTS-c the most recent assigned primary-paper date. That currency adds a later question to the reading list; it does not erase the study boundaries.

Sport Integrity Australia · retrieved 9 September 2026October Poisons Standard · F2026L01327

Is MOTS-c prohibited in sport?

Sport Integrity Australia lists MOTS-C as prohibited in sport according to its peptide record from 9 September 2026. The sport listing and a Poisons Standard entry are different records with different purposes. The October Poisons Standard (F2026L01327) lists no individual entry under “mots-c”, “mots c”, “motsc” or “mitochondrial-derived peptide” in the check dated 1 October 2026 UTC. That search result does not settle capture by broader wording. A sport prohibition therefore cannot be read as a named Schedule, and a missing individual name cannot be treated as permission.

The comparison below separates the question asked by each list. Sport Integrity Australia’s peptide page names MOTS-c in its sporting context. The instrument is a national classification text with schedules and appendices; its interpretation provisions also matter. The state-law route is explained in how the Poisons Standard reaches Western Australia. Keeping the document names visible prevents a search result about sport from silently becoming a statement about the classification of a catalogue product.

TGA peptide responsibilities advisory · 13 April 2026

What does the TGA advisory say about peptide products?

In its notice of 13 April 2026, the TGA describes unapproved peptide products as a class. The notice states that TGA evaluation of safety, effectiveness and quality has not been carried out for those peptide goods. The grammatical subject is the class discussed by the notice, rather than a claim that the notice individually names MOTS-c. The TGA also explains that peptide products fall under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Those statements address the regulatory framework. The molecular address in MT-RNR1 answers a biological question, so it cannot stand in for the advisory’s account of supply obligations.

For the class of peptide products it discusses, the TGA advisory published on 13 April 2026 holds that supply does not become lawful because a package carries a research-use-only label. That label alone, the advisory adds, cannot alter a product’s regulatory standing, allow its import or lift the duties attached to advertising and supply. The notice’s wording concerns the label and its limits, rather than a special clearance created by laboratory terminology. That distinction belongs beside the scientific vocabulary: a catalogue can describe a sequence and gene context, while the regulatory framework still asks its own questions. No conclusion about lawful supply follows from the mitochondrial origin described earlier.

Form Laboratories catalogue · identity and storageForm Laboratories shipping record

What records accompany MOTS-c storage and Perth dispatch?

The Form Laboratories MOTS-c record identifies a freeze-dried reference material and qualifies its CAS field as a database and catalogue identifier. The sequence is therefore the main identity anchor in this page’s paperwork discussion, rather than an unqualified number standing alone. The catalogue directs storage to the label and matching lab report. The shipping record says reports are held in the order account, separate from the parcel. That arrangement makes the identity description and the batch paperwork distinct records to read together. A publication’s genetic sequence does not itself verify the contents of a supplied lot.

The listing for MOTS-c laboratory reference material keeps the identity fields beside the recorded lot. The quality article on what a lot number lets you check explains how that identifier connects an order to its paperwork. The qualified CAS entry belongs with the sequence in that check, rather than losing its qualifier when copied into another record.

Perth dispatch facts for our Perth peptides store come from the shipping page: the bank transfer must arrive and be matched before dispatch. The parcel then travels domestically with Australia Post or CouriersPlease. Outer packaging is plain, and the shipping record places the lab report in the account instead of inside the box. Those are logistics and document-location facts. They do not describe what MOTS-c does in a person or assign a stability guarantee to a delivery journey.

Comparison

Two different lists, two different meanings: decision-making, document, purpose and inference.

Comparison: MOTS-c in Perth: a Peptide Written in Mitochondrial DNA
CriterionSport prohibitionPoisons Standard classification
Who records it?Sport Integrity Australia publishes the cited peptide listing.The federal legislative instrument records the national classification system.
Which document?SIA peptide education page; record retrieved 9 September 2026.October 2026 instrument F2026L01327; checked 1 October 2026 UTC.
What does it address?Substances prohibited within sport’s anti-doping framework.Scheduling controls for medicines and chemicals, with state and territory implementation.
What cannot be inferred?A sport entry cannot identify a Schedule in the legislative text.A recorded-variant search cannot settle broader class or derivative coverage.

FAQ

What is MOTS-c?

MOTS-c names the mitochondrial-origin peptide introduced by Lee’s team in 2015. The catalogue places its coding stretch in MT-RNR1 and lists sixteen amino-acid units. The gene context describes its biological origin; the catalogue’s lot and report address the separate identity of reference material.

What is the MOTS-c sequence?

The Form Laboratories spec sheet prints MRWQEMGYIFYPRKLR for MOTS-c. That ordered amino-acid string sits alongside the formula C101H152N28O22S2 and the molecular weight 2174.6 g/mol in the record. The CAS value is qualified as a database/catalog identifier, so the qualifier should stay with the number.

Is MOTS-c banned in sport?

MOTS-C appears in Sport Integrity Australia’s prohibited-peptide examples, in the record retrieved 9 September 2026. That sporting classification is distinct from a Poisons Standard Schedule. The sport page and the legislative instrument must be read for their own purposes, rather than converting one listing into the other.

What is a mitochondrial-derived peptide?

A mitochondrial-derived peptide takes its genetic origin from mitochondrial DNA. MOTS-c illustrates the term through a small peptide-coding region within the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, described in Lee et al.’s Cell Metabolism paper. “Derived” identifies the origin of its instructions, rather than the location of every later observation.

Is MOTS-c scheduled in Australia?

The October Poisons Standard (F2026L01327) holds no individual entry under mitochondrial-derived peptide, motsc, mots c or mots-c when checked on 1 October 2026 UTC. That search leaves broader class membership unresolved. Separately, the TGA’s 13 April 2026 advisory defines unapproved peptide goods by exclusion from the ARTG. A named-entry search provides no permission to supply or possess a product.

Part of

Research Peptides in Perth

What a Perth-based research-use-only peptide supplier is under Australian law, how the category is regulated and verified, and how orders travel within Australia.

Citations

4 sources
  1. Lee C, Zeng J, Drew BG, et al. Cell Metabolism. 2015;21(3):443–454.
    doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.02.009

  2. Kim KH, Son JM, Benayoun BA, Lee C Cell Metabolism. 2018;28(3):516–524.e7.
    doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2018.06.008

  3. Kumagai H, Kim SJ, Miller B, et al. iScience. 2024;27(11):111212.
    doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.111212

  4. von der Dunk SHA, Hogeweg P, Snel B Communications Biology. 2023;6:777 — evolutionary background.
    doi:10.1038/s42003-023-05153-x

Written by

Form Laboratories research team

Perth, Western Australia. We supply research-use-only reference material with lot-matched paperwork.

Written in-house
These articles are written and maintained by our own research team, not by a named clinician.
Built from the record
Every figure comes from published literature, listed in full above with a link to the original paper.
No use directions
We describe what the research measured. We never give dosing, preparation, or advice.

Form Laboratories supplies research-use-only reference material. This article is an educational summary of published third-party literature. It is not medical advice, not a use instruction, and research material is not for human or animal use.

2026 Form Laboratories - Research use only - Perth WAPerth WA 6000 - lot-matched paperwork, dispatched Australia-wide via Australia Post or CouriersPlease