MOTS-c inhibits the folate cycle at the level of 5Me-THF, resulting in an accumulation of AICAR [5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide). MOTS-c also increases cellular NAD levels, which are also nucleotide precursors.
MOTS-c is a mitochondrial signal that stimulates cellular glucose uptake while suppressing respiration. The glucose taken up in response to MOTS-c is routed to the anabolic pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), which provides carbon sources for the synthesis of purines, rather than being metabolized through glycolysis. In addition, MOTS-c increases the levels of carnitine shuttles, which transport activated fatty acids into the mitochon-dria for β-oxidation, increases the level of a β-oxidation intermediate, and reduces intracellular levels of essential and non-essential fatty acids, suggesting enhanced lipid utilization; myocytes that stably overexpress MOTS-c also exhibits increased glucose uptake.