title: MOTS-c: A novel mitochondrial-derived peptide regulating muscle and fat metabolism.
abstract: Mitochondria are ancient organelles that are thought to have emerged from once free-living α-proto-bacteria. As such, they still possess several bacterial-like qualities, including a semi-autonomous genetic system, complete with an independent genome and a unique genetic code. The bacterial-like circular mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been described to encode 37 genes, including 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and 13 mRNAs. Two additional peptides reported to originate from the mtDNA, namely humanin (Hashimoto et al., 2001; Ikone et al., 2003; Guo et al., 2003) [1-3] and MOTS-c (mitochondrial ORF of the twelve S c) (Lee et al., 2015) [4], indicate a larger mitochondrial genetic repertoire (Shokolenko and Alexeyev, 2015) [5]. These mitochondrial-derived peptides (MDPs) have profound and distinct biological activities and provide a paradigm-shifting concept of active mitochondrial-encoded signals that act at the cellular and organismal level (i.e. mitochondrial hormone) (da Cunha et al., 2015; Quiros et al., 2016) [6,7]. Considering that mitochondria are the single most important metabolic organelle, it is not surprising that these MDPs have metabolic actions. MOTS-c has been shown to target the skeletal muscle and enhance glucose metabolism. As such, MOTS-c has implications in the regulation of obesity, diabetes, exercise, and longevity, representing an entirely novel mitochondrial signaling mechanism to regulate metabolism within and between cells.
authors.affiliation: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, 3715 McClintock Ave., Suite 103, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States. Electronic address: changhan.lee@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Changhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, 3715 McClintock Ave., Suite 103, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States.
authors.forename: Kyung Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, 3715 McClintock Ave., Suite 103, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States. Electronic address: hassy@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Pinchas
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C000619256:MOTS-c peptide, human; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; C427211:humanin; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Aging; Exercise; Fat; Insulin; MOTS-c; Metabolism; Mitochondrial-derived peptides; Muscle