Study record
Mitochondrial-derived microprotein MOTS-c attenuates immobilization-induced skeletal muscle atrophy by suppressing lipid infiltration
Kumagai H, Kim SJ, Miller B et al. · Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab · 2024
What this study reported
Reported that immobilisation reduced muscle mass by about 15% in mice, whereas mice given administered MOTS-c lost about 5%. In the same mice, MOTS-c was associated with normalised phospho-AKT, phospho-FOXO1 and phospho-FOXO3a, lower circulating IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL1 and MCP-1, and lower muscle fatty acid levels, with transcriptomic changes in PPAR-pathway adipogenesis genes.
Limitations
Single strain, males only and a short experimental window; group sizes and blinding are not reported; exposure is supraphysiological and only one atrophy model was tested.
Study record
| Study model | Animal study (in vivo) |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | MOTS-c administeredSynthetic MOTS-c was given to cells, animals or people. |
| Species | mouse |
| System studied | Male C57BL/6J mice with casting-induced hindlimb immobilisation |
| Population | Not reported |
| Design | Controlled animal experiment |
| Sample size as reported | Not reported |
| Control group | immobilised mice given vehicle injections and non-immobilised controls |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | skeletal muscle mass; AKT and FOXO phosphorylation; circulating inflammatory cytokines; muscle fatty acid content; muscle transcriptome |
| Pathways measured | AKT / mTOR / FOXO · Inflammation · Lipid metabolism |
| Research areas | Skeletal muscle · Metabolic |
| Evidence tier | C — Animal in vivo |
| Publication types | Journal Article |
Appraisal
Each dimension is recorded separately and never combined into a single score. A study can be well controlled and still tell you little about people.
- Relevance to MOTS-c
- Direct
- Model applicability
- Mammalian
- Sample size
- Not reported
- Controls
- Appropriate
- Outcome validity
- Surrogate
- Support for its own conclusion
- Moderate
Provenance
- Bibliographic fields retrieved from PubMed E-utilities efetch (title, journal, date, authors, DOI) on 2026-11-11.
- Annotated from the published abstract.
- Editorial review: approved (2026-11-11).
- Classification follows the site methodology; the record describes the study, not what MOTS-c does in people.