Into the nucleus: mitonuclear signaling
The 2018 finding raised MOTS-c from "interesting metabolic peptide" to "textbook-changing example of mitonuclear commun…
A mitochondrial peptide that goes to the nucleus and changes gene programs
The 2018 finding raised MOTS-c from "interesting metabolic peptide" to "textbook-changing example of mitonuclear communication". Under metabolic stress, MOTS-c translocates to the nucleus in an AMPK-dependent way and helps run stress-response and antioxidant gene programs, including ones linked to NRF2.
That is striking because it means a peptide encoded in mitochondrial DNA can reach the nuclear genome and shape its output, a direct form of retrograde signaling. This unit explains what retrograde signaling is, what the nuclear move actually does, and why this is a conceptual landmark even though, like the rest of MOTS-c biology, it rests on mouse and cell experiments.