Study record
Mitochondrial-encoded peptide MOTS-c prevents pancreatic islet cell senescence to delay diabetes
Kong BS, Lee H, L'Yi S et al. · Exp Mol Med · 2025
What this study reported
Reported that MOTS-c levels decreased with aging and senescence in pancreatic islet cells in mice. Found that treating isolated aged C57BL/6 mouse islets with MOTS-c reduced islet senescence alongside changes in nuclear gene expression and senescence-related metabolites, and that MOTS-c treatment reduced islet senescence and glucose intolerance in S961-treated C57BL/6 mice and in nonobese diabetic mice. Measured circulating MOTS-c in people and found lower levels in those with type 2 diabetes than in healthy controls.
Limitations
Animal group sizes and the size and composition of the human comparison are not reported in the abstract; the human component is cross-sectional and correlational, and senescence endpoints are surrogate markers rather than diabetes outcomes.
Study record
| Study model | Animal study (in vivo) |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | SeveralMore than one of these is central to the paper (common for reviews). |
| Species | mouse, human |
| System studied | Aged C57BL/6 mouse pancreatic islets, S961-treated C57BL/6 mice and nonobese diabetic mice; circulating MOTS-c in people with type 2 diabetes |
| Population | people with type 2 diabetes and healthy controls (circulating MOTS-c comparison) |
| Design | Controlled animal experiment with isolated islet treatment and a human biomarker comparison |
| Sample size as reported | not reported |
| Control group | untreated aged islets and untreated S961-treated and nonobese diabetic mice; healthy human controls |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | islet MOTS-c levels; islet cell senescence markers; nuclear gene expression; metabolites of beta-cell senescence; glucose intolerance; circulating MOTS-c in humans |
| Pathways measured | Insulin & glucose handling · Nuclear translocation |
| Research areas | Metabolic · Aging · Mitochondrial biology |
| 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.