STUDresearch · Peptide
MOTS-c analogs / MDP class talk
Also known as
MOTS-c analogs · CB4211 · CB-4211 · CB 4211 · mitochondrial-derived peptide class · MDP class · MDP peptides · MOTS-c derivatives · mitochondrial ORF peptide analogs · mitochondria based therapeutics · MBT peptides (CohBar) · CB5138 · CB5064 analogs · MBT5 analogs · MOTS-c analogue
Community talk. May be wrong. Not medical advice. Not a protocol. Not for human or animal use.
Systemic — whole-body energy, insulin, and mitochondrial signaling class.
Reported total weekly amount, often divided across one to three administrations; no controlled head-to-head schedule evidence was located.
Older community charts describe four administrations across roughly 20 days followed by a long off-period; a separate author reported continuing 5 mg every five days in week four.
Investigated for four weeks in 20 adults with obesity and NAFLD, 11 assigned active drug; this is CB4211, not native MOTS-c.
Half-life & effect duration
- Half-life in the body
- CB4211 / native / other analogsNo single settled estimate
- Felt duration people report
- Positive accountsTransient endurance changes or a strong first exposure
- Other accountsNo benefit, fatigue, sickness or site soreness
- After stoppingPerformance gains disappeared in one account
Tap a line to jump into the full notes. Research only — may be wrong.
Timing context & sources
Half-life in the body
No dependable public human half-life can be assigned across CB4211, native MOTS-c and unverified analog labels.
CB4211 studies collected pharmacokinetic data but the inspected public registry and sponsor topline did not provide a peer-reviewed half-life. Endogenous exercise response is a different endpoint.
The profile combines distinct identities; the native exercise study measured endogenous abundance, and unnamed gray-market analogs lack verified composition.
- ClinicalTrials.gov — Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of CB4211 (opens in a new tab)Study overview and design: completed first-in-human randomized placebo-controlled study, actual enrollment 88, with single-dose, seven-day multiple-dose and 28-day obese-NAFLD parts; public record has no posted results.Registry design record rather than a results paper; no public numerical half-life or complete adverse-event table in the inspected record.
- SEC-hosted CohBar release — CB4211 Phase 1b topline results (opens in a new tab)Sponsor release describing 25 mg subcutaneous once-daily CB4211 for four weeks in 20 adults with obesity and NAFLD, 11 active and 9 placebo, with safety/tolerability as the primary endpoint.Small sponsor-reported exploratory topline, not a peer-reviewed full clinical or pharmacokinetic report; it concerns CB4211, not native MOTS-c.
- Nature Communications — The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c is a regulator of plasma metabolites and enhances insulin sensitivity in human skeletal muscle (opens in a new tab)Human exercise experiment and Methods: ten sedentary healthy young men completed cycling intervals; plasma MOTS-c rose during/immediately after exercise and returned to baseline after four hours of rest, while muscle abundance remained elevated.Small male-only cohort; endogenous response to exercise, not exogenous dose pharmacokinetics or an elimination-half-life study.
Felt duration people report
Reports conflict: some describe transient endurance or a strong first exposure, while others report no benefit, fatigue, sickness, site soreness or effects that disappeared after stopping.
Same-author updates include loss of performance gains after discontinuation and dose-frequency reduction after marked fatigue; several accounts included SS-31, GLP-1 drugs or other confounders.
Uncontrolled self-reports, multiple products and co-agents, uncertain identity, selective posting and no blinded comparator; felt duration is not pharmacokinetics.
- Rapamycin News — Does anyone try MOTS-c? (opens in a new tab)Posts 3–13: users discuss SS-31/Humanin sequencing and a five-week 10 mg/week cycle; one author reported a 0.5 mph running-speed gain, then later said the performance gain disappeared after stopping and they stopped buying it.Uncontrolled individual accounts, unverified products and mixed native-MOTS-c, CB4211 and stack discussion; no objective protocol or blinded comparison.
- r/PeptideGuide — MOTS-c experience (opens in a new tab)Original post and comments: amounts from 500 mcg to 20 mg per administration with varying schedules; reports include a strong first 5 mg exposure, later sickness/site soreness, endurance, fatigue, no effect, blood-sugar-like symptoms and same-author follow-ups.Many different commenters, products, schedules and stacks; subreddit includes vendor influence; identities and doses were not independently verified and reports conflict.
- r/Peptidesource — Fatigue on MOTS-c (opens in a new tab)Original post and same-author clarification: a 46-year-old woman described a midday crash in week four while using 5 mg every five days; SLU-PP-332, testosterone and an SSRI were also reported. Comments include both no benefit and varied dose/fatigue experiences.Uncontrolled multi-agent reports, uncertain products and baseline fatigue; other commenters' regimens cannot be treated as the original author's outcome.
Other context in this card
- SEC-hosted CohBar release — temporary suspension of the CB4211 Phase 1a/1b study (opens in a new tab)November 2018 sponsor release: CohBar said it temporarily suspended the study after persistent injection-site reactions in some subjects while it evaluated a modified formulation.Sponsor disclosure rather than a peer-reviewed safety report; it establishes the pause and stated reason but not comparative incidence or causality beyond the company's account.
- SEC-filed CohBar Form 10-Q — CB4211 study resumption (opens in a new tab)Phase 1a/1b history: after the November 2018 suspension, CohBar modified the formulation and restarted dosing in June 2019 under the existing protocol.Company regulatory filing, not a peer-reviewed clinical report; it supports the chronology but not a complete adverse-event table or comparative safety conclusion.
What people say
- Fat-loss / recomp anecdotes (class): Sparse and heavily confounded by diet, training, GLP-1 adjacency, and multi-mito stacks; stronger in native MOTS-c forum culture than for verified CB4211 self-experiment logs. anecdote
- Stack credit problem: Benefits inside MOTS-c + SS-31 ± HNG ± NAD stacks cannot isolate which agent (or lifestyle) drove the log. forum
- Parent MOTS-c (preclinical core): AMPK-linked insulin sensitivity, resistance to high-fat-diet obesity/insulin resistance, increased energy expenditure/heat talk, skeletal-muscle glucose uptake and GLUT4 signaling in classic Lee et al. / follow-on work. animal
- Exercise-mimetic narrative: Endogenous MOTS-c rises with exercise (human muscle large fold-change post-exercise; circulating ~1.5–1.6× then toward baseline by ~4 h). “Exercise in a vial” is community shorthand for the class — not a proven training substitute. trial
- Aging / capacity models: Late-life intermittent MOTS-c in old mice improved physical capacity; one aging study reported modest median/max lifespan trends — not a human lifespan claim. animal
- CB4211 preclinical NASH/obesity: Mouse diet-induced obesity and STAM NAFLD models — reduced body weight / steatosis signals; STAM example often cited at 15 mg/kg IP BID × 21 days with NAFLD activity score reduction (~33% class claim in company materials), lower liver TG and ALT. Fat-loss specificity vs liraglutide discussed in company/preclinical writeups. animal
- CB4211 Phase 1b human signals (exploratory): Obese NAFLD (n≈20; 11 active / 9 placebo): 25 mg SC once daily × ~28 days. Topline: ALT ~−21% vs placebo +4% (≈−25% vs placebo), AST ~−28% vs −11% (≈−17% vs placebo), fasting glucose ~−6% vs 0%; trend toward body-weight reduction. Primary endpoint was safety/tolerability. trial
- Liver fat nuance: MRI-PDFF liver-fat reductions were substantial in both arms and comparable (~−5.03% CB4211 vs ~−4.88% placebo in press/poster summaries) — so enzyme/metabolic marker signals should not be oversold as proven NASH resolution. Short, small, exploratory-powered for efficacy. trial
- Related MDP — humanin/HNG: Cytoprotection, AD models, ischemia, metabolic clamp work; HNG is the dominant community “humanin analog” (see humanin-analogs profile). Different primary story than MOTS-c AMPK/exercise-mimetic. animal
- Related MDP — SHLPs: SHLP2/3 cytoprotection / OCR-ATP / metabolic models; SHLP6 opposite apoptotic polarity in founding assays — class label ≠ one drug (see SHLP profile). lab
- Other CohBar MDP assets (preclinical only): CB5064-class APJ/apelin-receptor agonists (obesity/ARDS models); MBT5-class CXCR4 antagonists (chemo-adjunct oncology models); CB5138/MBT2-class antifibrotic (IPF models). Not community-dosed MOTS-c replacements. animal
- Age / metabolic biomarker story: Circulating MOTS-c and other MDPs often lower with age, obesity, T2D, or poorer metabolic control in observational work — association, not proof that exogenous analog fixes human aging. trial
- Insulin-potentiating framing (CB4211 cells): Preclinical cell work described CB4211 potentiating insulin-mediated hepatic glucose reduction and adipocyte lipolysis inhibition more than acting as a standalone insulin mimetic. lab
Doses people talk about
- Native MOTS-c dominant band (what most forums actually run): ~5–10 mg total per week SC, split 1–3×/week (e.g. 5 mg once weekly; 5 mg 2×/week; 2.5–5 mg Mon/Thu-style). forum
- Native beginner / conservative: ~5 mg once weekly SC, or ~2.5 mg twice weekly. forum
- Native higher / aggressive charts: ~5 mg M/W/F (≈15 mg/week) or multi-mg 2–3×/week up toward ~10 mg/injection culture on some vendor pages — many experienced threads still call extreme weekly totals “too high” vs the common 5–10 mg/week. forum
- Native classic 20-day pulse: Widely copied charts — 5 mg SC every 5 days × 4 injections (≈20 mg total over ~20 days), then multi-month off. Distinct from continuous weekly maintenance. forum
- Native daily microdose camp: ~0.5–1 mg SC daily (sometimes weekdays only) aiming at steadier exposure; weekly totals can still land near ~3.5–10+ mg depending on days used. Bolus vs microdose remains an unresolved community debate. forum
- Native load→maintain examples: Clinic-adjacent tables sometimes list load ~10 mg/week (e.g. 5 mg 2×) then maintain ~5 mg/week over ~8 weeks on / ~4 off. forum
- Humanin analog (HNG) dose culture (related MDP, different chart): Common community HNG bands are ~0.5–2 mg SC daily (or multi-mg multi-weekly), not MOTS-c weekly-total logic — do not merge. forum
- Timing talk: Morning and/or pre-training preferred in many native charts; empty-stomach lore common but unproven. Consistency beats clock-hour superstition. forum
- Reported route pattern: Subcutaneous use dominates native-MOTS-c and CB4211 human discussion; intramuscular use is a minority community route, intraperitoneal dosing belongs mainly to animal studies, and oral delivery claims remain uncertain. forum
- Unlabeled research-chem “MOTS-c analogs”: No reliable public dose standard when sequence/COA identity is unknown. Community sometimes wrongly reuses native 5–10 mg/week or CB4211 25 mg/day charts by label marketing alone — both are identity gambles. forum
- Purity / labeled-mg risk: Without sequence confirmation and third-party testing, “analog” mg may be wrong peptide, underdosed native, or degraded product. forum
- Framing: Research/community/trial discussion ranges only — not medical advice, not prescriptions. Native MOTS-c ≠ CB4211 mg/day ≠ unlabeled “analog” vials. Never invent a shared conversion factor without a published sequence and PK bridge. forum
- CRITICAL mix-up rule: CB4211 Phase 1b used ~25 mg SC once daily (≈175 mg/week if full 7 days). Dominant native MOTS-c community band is ~5–10 mg total per week. Copying trial mg onto native or mystery-analog vials is the highest-risk bro math error in this cluster. trial
- SHLP dose culture: Almost entirely animal/in-vitro (e.g. SHLP2 ~2 mg/kg IP class models); human gray-market charts are thin and non-interchangeable with MOTS-c. animal
- CB4211 Phase 1a dose-finding: Single and 7-day multiple ascending dose cohorts in healthy adults — published poster range ~0.2 to 3.0 mg/kg/day SC (or placebo), n≈65 in dose-selection stages; prototype then modified formulation. trial
- CB4211 Phase 1b fixed clinical dose: ~25 mg SC once daily × ~4 weeks (28 days) in obese NAFLD (BMI/liver-fat entry criteria; modified formulation in later stage). Selected after Phase 1a for the pharmacodynamic/exploratory NAFLD cohort. trial
- CB4211 animal mg/kg (examples, not human conversion): Obesity/NAFLD models often discussed around 5–15 mg/kg IP (including BID STAM regimens) for multi-week courses; healthy-mouse tolerability screens cited up to high mg/kg/day IP short courses without weight effects in company materials. Rodent mg/kg does not 1:1 convert to human mg. animal
How it may feel
- Days 1–7: Usually subtle or nothing systemic; minority native-MOTS-c logs mention mild fatigue, heavy legs, or early headache within hours of multi-mg pins. forum
- Weeks 1–2: Energy steadiness, training quality, appetite/food-noise, or “blood sugar feel” checkpoints if anything appears — easy to confabulate with diet/sleep/training. forum
- Weeks 3–4: First common reassess window for continue/stop or vial-identity questions. Aligns with end of CB4211 4-week clinical exposure for those comparing to trial length. forum
- Weeks 4–8: Body-comp, work-capacity, or “metabolic ease” anecdotes if lifestyle is dialed — still confounded. forum
- Months 2–3: Longevity-style continuous native use appears more than verified multi-month analog-identity use; continuous safety of gray-market analogs is not established. forum
- After stopping: Some claim fade over weeks; no controlled human washout PK for gray-market native or unnamed analogs. No classic withdrawal syndrome described. anecdote
- Honest framing: Most public “feel” curves come from native MOTS-c or multi-MDP stacks, not from large CB4211 self-experiment series. CB4211 Phase 1b was a ~28-day daily SC safety/exploratory window — not a bro “pump” curve. forum
- Day 0 / injection: No stimulant kick expected. Injection-site sting, warmth, redness, or later painless bumps dominate early awareness — especially relevant given CB4211 development pauses for site reactions. trial
Cycles people discuss
- Native short metabolic blocks: ~4–8 weeks on is common for recomp/energy goals. forum
- Native longer performance/longevity-style: ~8–12 weeks on then ~4–8 weeks off appears often in protocol pages. forum
- Native 20-day pulse: Four multi-mg shots every 5 days, then long rest (sometimes framed as months before a possible second course). forum
- Native 8 on / 4 off example: Clinic-adjacent load/maintain tables frequently use this skeleton. forum
- Why multi-weekly / daily rather than monthly “depot”: Community charts use a short-circulation narrative to explain these frequent exposure patterns. That is a reported rationale, not a measured human half-life or evidence that the same cadence applies across MOTS-c-class products. forum
- Continuous multi-month: Appears in longevity talk for native peptide; continuous safety of gray-market native or unlabeled analogs is not established — cycling is precautionary culture, not proven desensitization science. forum
- Re-runs: Before cuts, hard training blocks, or lab-reset seasons in thin threads. forum
- Stack sequencing cycles: Community accounts describe SS-31 first for ~2–4+ weeks, the reverse order, and concurrent same-block use. These are competing anecdotal patterns, not a validated sequence. forum
- CB4211 clinical window: Multi-week daily SC (~28 days Phase 1b), not open-ended continuous therapy. No approved chronic regimen. trial
- Stop rules discussed: No measurable change after a full block, unacceptable site reactions, pregnancy, new serious illness, or active-malignancy concerns in broad anti-apoptotic MDP framing — taper not generally claimed as required. forum
Timing
- Exogenous native timing rationale: Community explanations assume short circulating duration and use that assumption to justify multi-weekly or daily schedules. Formal published human PK for gray-market native MOTS-c remains sparse; those schedules are not established by a measured human elimination window. forum
- Downstream claims: AMPK/mito signaling and training adaptations may last days–weeks after exposure in anecdotes; not a measured depot PK story for native or most analogs. anecdote
- Stack timing confound: Concurrent humanin/HNG, SS-31, or NAD-axis agents make it impossible to attribute which schedule “worked.” forum
- Endogenous exercise response, not a half-life: In ten sedentary young men, plasma MOTS-c rose during and immediately after cycling and returned to baseline after four hours of rest. That observation does not establish the elimination half-life of injected native MOTS-c or CB4211. trial
- Muscle vs plasma: Muscle MOTS-c elevations after exercise can persist longer than the circulating spike — used as lore that “downstream effects outlast blood levels.” trial
- CB4211 formal PK: Cohort-level clinical PK was collected in Phase 1a/1b, but detailed public peer-reviewed PK parameters (t½, clearance, Vd) are thin outside company materials; do not invent a public half-life number. trial
- Injection-site persistence (class translation issue): CohBar noted evidence some CB4211 remained at the injection site — linked to persistent mild painless bumps and a 2018 temporary trial suspension to address site reactions / formulation. MDP therapeutics generally face poor stability, short plasma half-lives, and site-lingering delivery challenges in reviews. trial
- BBB: Peripheral MOTS-c is generally described as not BBB-penetrant; CNS benefits in animals often required central or carrier-assisted routes. Class metabolic use is peripheral, not a nootropic delivery story. trial
More on what it is
- What this profile covers: A class/search cluster, not one approved drug. Includes (1) clinical MOTS-c analog CB4211 (CohBar), (2) broader mitochondrial-derived peptide (MDP) family talk (native MOTS-c, humanin/HNG, SHLP1–6), (3) other CohBar MDP-analog programs (e.g. CB5064, MBT5, CB5138-class), and (4) unlabeled research-chem “MOTS-c analog / derivative” vendor products. forum
- Why “analogs” get searched: Stability, potency, PK, and clinical-path narratives after animal MOTS-c success + CB4211 Phase 1 headlines. Forums chase “better MOTS-c” after CohBar data, then often default back to native charts when true CB4211 is unavailable. forum
- Not the same as: Native MOTS-c mg-for-mg; not GLP-1 agonists; not SS-31/elamipretide (cardiolipin tetrapeptide); not humanin/HNG; not every vendor “MOTS-c analog” = CB4211. Do not paste CB4211 ~25 mg/day onto a 5–10 mg/week native vial. forum
- Flagship clinical molecule: CB4211 — a novel, improved analog of endogenous MOTS-c developed by CohBar as a mitochondria-based therapeutic (MBT) for NASH and obesity. First MDP-class candidate to reach human clinical testing. trial
- Parent molecule: Native MOTS-c is a 16-aa mtDNA-encoded peptide (sequence MRWQEMGYIFYPRKLR; ~2175 Da) from the 12S rRNA region (MT-RNR1). AMPK-centered “exercise-mimetic” metabolic signal; dense animal data; gray-market native peptide is what most forums actually dose. trial
- Broader MDP class: Humanin (16S rRNA / MT-RNR2; first discovered ~2001), small humanin-like peptides SHLP1–6, and MOTS-c (2015 landmark). Related neighborhood, different sequences, mechanisms, and dose cultures — not interchangeable milligram-for-milligram. trial
- Evidence honesty: Dense MOTS-c animal/in-vitro literature; early CB4211 human Phase 1a/1b only (small NAFLD cohort; exploratory markers); most gray-market “analog” labels have no published sequence, COA-backed identity, or human PK. CohBar dissolved; CB4211 clinical development discontinued. trial
Stacks
- MOTS-c class + SS-31 (most discussed mito pair): Bro lore — SS-31 = “hardware/repair” (cardiolipin / ETC membrane); MOTS-c-class = “software/metabolic signal” (AMPK). Mechanisms framed as complementary, not redundant. No published combination RCT for CB4211+SS-31 or native+SS-31. forum
- Sequence debate (SS-31 first majority): Run SS-31 alone ~2–4+ weeks (community SS-31 charts often ~5–10 mg/day-class — see SS-31 profile), then add MOTS-c-class or run both. Rationale: prime/repair mito before metabolic push. forum
- Sequence minority (MOTS-c first): Some influencers reverse order (metabolic signal first, then SS-31). Track which camp a protocol comes from. forum
- Concurrent same-day: Overlapping weeks appear in community accounts, including MOTS-c-class use on training days and SS-31 on recovery days. Product identity, simultaneous changes, and different schedules prevent clean attribution. forum
- MDP pair / triad: MOTS-c-class + humanin/HNG (± SHLP2 footnotes) as multi-MDP “mito signal” suites. HNG daily mcg–mg culture is independent of MOTS-c weekly totals. forum
- NAD axis: + NMN, NR, or clinic NAD+ in longevity stacks; sometimes sequenced “NAD foundation first, then mito peptides.” Heavily confounded. forum
- GLP-1 adjacency: Layered with semaglutide / tirzepatide / retatrutide during fat-loss phases in some logs; watch glucose-feel / appetite noise when stacking metabolic agents. No solid interaction map. forum
- SLU-PP-332 / exercise-mimetic stack: Experimental low-dose MOTS-c + SLU-PP talk appears in microdose logs — purity- and confound-heavy. anecdote
- Native + “analog” same block: Sometimes combined without clear identity of the second vial — unstudied and identity-risk compounding. forum
- Lifestyle as real stack: Progressive training, protein intake, sleep, and calorie control repeatedly get credit for recomp outcomes. forum
- Not healing blends: GLOW / KLOW / Wolverine (BPC/TB/GHK/KPV) are repair-blend cultures — different category from MOTS-c MDP signaling. forum
- Metformin / multi-AMPK caution lore: Shared AMPK-adjacent framing leads some to avoid blindly stacking multiple AMPK activators; ADDF notes theoretical interaction class with AMPK-targeting drugs — not a mapped gray-market interaction trial. trial
Storage notes
- No mix instructions here: STUDresearch does not list reconstitution, diluent volumes, or syringe unit charts. People reconstitute many different ways and vial labels differ — that content creates more confusion than clarity. forum
- Storage (general talk only): Unopened research products are usually kept cool, dry, and away from light per the seller label. Anything after first use is product-specific — follow the label, not a universal forum SOP. forum
Watch for
- Native community common cluster: Injection-site reactions; early fatigue/heavy feel; mild headache (often first 1–3 doses); occasional flushing or mild GI. forum
- USADA / self-experimenter rarer list (MOTS-c class): Increased heart rate or palpitations, insomnia, fever — long-term safety unknown; MOTS-c discussed in anti-doping warnings for athletes. forum
- Appetite / glucose feel: Sudden hunger, food noise, or shaky low-blood-sugar-like sensations after multi-mg native pins (muscle glucose-uptake lore); more notable if already on GLP-1s or under-eating. anecdote
- Brain fog / flat mood lore: Clinic-adjacent native discussion links fog/mood flattening around weeks 3–4 with hard training + deficit and folate-cycle mechanism talk — not established causality. forum
- Identity / purity (highest practical risk for “analogs”): Unverified labels may be wrong peptide, underdosed native, degraded product, or non-CB4211 “analog” with unknown pharmacology. Third-party testing talk is hygiene, not a guarantee. forum
- Dose mix-ups: Copying CB4211 ~25 mg/day onto native ~5–10 mg/week culture (or vice versa) is a repeatedly warned error. Unlabeled analog + either chart is still an identity gamble. forum
- GLP-1 / multi-metabolic stacks: No solid combination trials; monitoring lore for glucose-feel and appetite when stacking. forum
- Injection site (class-defining clinical issue): Redness, irritation, sting, bruising, or persistent painless bumps. CB4211 Phase 1 materials described injection-site reactions and an earlier formulation-related pause; the later study resumed after amendments. trial
- CB4211 short-term tolerability: Phase 1a/1b met primary safety endpoint; topline “well-tolerated, no serious adverse events” in company releases. Small, short exposures ≠ long-term multi-year safety. Full granular AE tables were not as widely public as the efficacy headlines. trial
- AMPK / drug-class caution: Theoretical interactions with other AMPK-targeting or antidiabetic agents (e.g. metformin class talk in ADDF materials) — no comprehensive gray-market interaction map. trial
- Development status: CB4211 clinical development discontinued after CohBar dissolution; no active Phase 2/3 program as of ADDF 2025-class updates. Other CohBar MDP assets likewise orphaned from that pipeline. trial
- Sex / population unknowns: Observational MOTS-c biology shows sex and metabolic-state differences; equal efficacy/dosing across sexes and special populations is not established for analogs. trial
- Sport status: Experimental performance-peptide risk; WADA/USADA contexts flag MOTS-c-class use. Detection methods for MOTS-c metabolites/oxidation products have been developed in anti-doping literature. trial
- Pregnancy / medical conditions / malignancy: Not characterized for special populations in community charts; anti-apoptotic MDP-family framing leads some careful writeups to avoid active-malignancy self-experimentation. Clinical care required for any real-world medical decision. forum
- Not risk-free: Research-only educational framing — not a substitute for exercise, nutrition, medical care, or approved therapies. forum
- Regulatory / access: Not FDA-approved metabolic or longevity drugs. Native MOTS-c has faced compounding/regulatory restrictions talk (e.g. FDA bulk-substance Category 2–class concerns cited in ADDF materials regarding immunogenicity, impurities, lack of human exposure data). Research-only framing. trial
