Study record
Mots-c attenuates diabetic nephropathy by downregulating LARS1 to promote lipophagy and suppress tubular senescence
Wang J, Luo S, Han Y et al. · Biochem Pharmacol · 2026
What this study reported
Reported that administered MOTS-c was associated with preserved urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, less tubular injury, less lipid deposition and less macrophage accumulation in db/db mice. Reported lower p16, gammaH2AX and SA-beta-gal signal and lower LARS1 with increased LC3-mediated lipid droplet clearance, with LARS1 overexpression in HK-2 cells and an autophagy inhibitor in mice reversing these changes.
Limitations
Group sizes and sex not reported in the abstract; a single genetic diabetes model and one human tubular cell line; mechanism relies on a non-selective autophagy inhibitor.
Study record
| Study model | Animal study (in vivo) |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | MOTS-c administeredSynthetic MOTS-c was given to cells, animals or people. |
| Species | mouse, human |
| System studied | db/db mice with diabetic nephropathy and HK-2 human proximal tubular cells with LARS1 overexpression |
| Population | Not reported |
| Design | Controlled animal experiment with cell culture experiments and transcriptomics |
| Sample size as reported | not reported |
| Control group | untreated db/db mice; cells without LARS1 overexpression |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio; tubular injury and lipid deposition; macrophage accumulation; senescence markers (p16, gammaH2AX, SA-beta-gal); LARS1 expression and lipophagy markers |
| Pathways measured | Autophagy / mitophagy · Lipid metabolism · Inflammation |
| Research areas | Kidney · Metabolic · Aging |
| 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
- Validated biomarker
- 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.