The yolopeptide reading list
The movement study is a useful place to begin. The cell papers and human observations take the questions in other directions.
MOTS-c
- Reynolds and colleagues: exercise inducibility and physical performance in ageing mice. The old animals doing physical tasks are where this site begins.
- Kumagai and colleagues: direct CK2 binding and skeletal-muscle function. A molecular target, with cell-free and mouse experiments.
- Kim and colleagues: nuclear translocation under metabolic stress. Signalling work in human and mouse cells.
- Bolignano and colleagues: circulating MOTS-c in chronic haemodialysis. A human prognostic-marker cohort.
- Wan and colleagues: stress, metabolism and ageing. A review connecting the different experimental strands.
Epitalon
- Araj and colleagues: the Epitalon overview. A review of proposed mechanisms and their limits.
- Khavinson, Bondarev and Butyugov: telomerase and telomere elongation. The original human-cell experiment.
- Al-Dulaimi and colleagues: telomerase or ALT in human cell lines. The later normal-cell and cancer-cell findings.
- Khavinson and colleagues: melatonin synthesis in pinealocyte culture. Rat cells and their melatonin machinery.
- Epitalon and post-ovulatory ageing in mouse oocytes. An in vitro experiment over hours.
- Anisimov and colleagues: lifespan and tumours in female SHR mice. Different survival summaries from the same animals.
- Khavinson and Morozov: pineal and thymic preparations in elderly people. Observational human evidence using Epithalamin, the parent extract.
- Kumagai H, Kim SJ, Miller B, et al. MOTS-c modulates skeletal muscle function by directly binding and activating CK2. iScience. 2024;27(11):111212. ↗
- Bolignano D, Greco M, Presta P, Duni A, et al. The Mitochondrial-Derived Peptide MOTS-c May Refine Mortality and Cardiovascular Risk Prediction in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients: A Multicenter Cohort Study. Blood Purification. 2024;53(10):824-837. ↗
- Wan W, Zhang L, Lin Y, Rao X, Wang X, Hua F, Ying J. Mitochondria-derived peptide MOTS-c: effects and mechanisms related to stress, metabolism and aging. Journal of Translational Medicine. 2023;21(1):36. ↗
- Reynolds JC, Lai RW, Woodhead JST, Joly JH, Mitchell CJ, Cameron-Smith D, Lu R, Cohen P, Graham NA, Benayoun BA, Merry TL, Lee C. MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nature Communications. 2021;12(1):470. ↗
- Kim KH, Son JM, Benayoun BA, Lee C. The Mitochondrial-Encoded Peptide MOTS-c Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Nuclear Gene Expression in Response to Metabolic Stress. Cell Metabolism. 2018;28(3):516-524.e7. ↗
- Araj SK, Brzezik J, Mądra-Gackowska K, Szeleszczuk Ł. Overview of Epitalon-Highly Bioactive Pineal Tetrapeptide with Promising Properties. Int J Mol Sci. 2025;26(6):2691. ↗
- Al-Dulaimi S, Thomas R, Matta S, Roberts T. Epitalon increases telomere length in human cell lines through telomerase upregulation or ALT activity. Biogerontology. 2025;26(5):178. ↗
- Khavinson VKh, Linkova NS, Kvetnoy IM, et al. Molecular cellular mechanisms of peptide regulation of melatonin synthesis in pinealocyte culture. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2012;153(2):255-258. ↗
- Khavinson VK, Bondarev IE, Butyugov AA. Epithalon peptide induces telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human somatic cells. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2003;135(6):590-592. ↗
- Khavinson VKh, Morozov VG. Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2003;24(3-4):233-240. ↗
- Anisimov VN, Khavinson VKh, Provinciali M, et al. Effect of Epitalon on biomarkers of aging, life span and spontaneous tumor incidence in female Swiss-derived SHR mice. Biogerontology. 2003;4(4):193-202. ↗
- Various. Epitalon protects against post-ovulatory aging-related damage of mouse oocytes in vitro. Aging (Albany NY). 2022;14(8):3551-3565. ↗