Study record
LAT1-mediated delivery of engineered R13A-MOTS-c attenuates radiation-induced lung injury via Nrf2 activation and mitochondrial protection
Zhang YL, Huang G, Li SP et al. · Redox Biol · 2026
What this study reported
Reported that substituting arginine 13 with alanine increased the peptide's hydrophobicity and cellular uptake, and that uptake of R13A-MOTS-c depended on LAT1 in lung epithelial cells. Reported that in irradiated mice the analogue was associated with less pulmonary inflammation, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, with effects lost under LAT1 or Nrf2 inhibition or Nrf2 knockout.
Limitations
Findings concern an engineered analogue rather than native MOTS-c; group sizes not reported in the abstract; a single irradiation model and one lung epithelial cell line.
Study record
| Study model | Animal study (in vivo) |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | MOTS-c analogue or derivativeA modified peptide or drug derived from MOTS-c, which is not the same molecule. |
| Species | mouse |
| System studied | Engineered R13A-MOTS-c in MLE-12 lung epithelial cells and in thoracically irradiated C57BL/6 and Nrf2-knockout mice |
| Population | Not reported |
| Design | Peptide engineering with cell culture and controlled animal experiments |
| Sample size as reported | not reported |
| Control group | vehicle-treated irradiated mice; wild-type MOTS-c and untreated cells |
| Route (data field only) | intraperitoneal |
| Endpoints measured | cellular uptake and LAT1 dependence; inflammatory markers; oxidative damage; mitochondrial function; Nrf2 nuclear translocation and target genes |
| Pathways measured | NRF2 / antioxidant response · Oxidative stress · Inflammation |
| Research areas | Lung · Mitochondrial biology · Inflammation & immunity |
| 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
- Indirect
- 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.