Comparison

Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 vs MOTS-c

Function

While Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 is used in cosmetic eye formulations to decrease puffiness, eye bags, and dark circles by reducing edema and protecting proteins such as SOD from glycation51150159154, MOTS-c improves insulin sensitivity, enhances glycolysis, reduces oxidative stress, and shows protective effects in models of metabolic syndrome, aging, and ischemia-reperfusion injury8135146.

Mechanism

While Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 works as a synthetic tetrapeptide, Ac-βAla-His-Ser-His (Eyeseryl), with reported ACE-1 inhibition and anti-glycation activity, proposed to improve microcirculation and reduce capillary permeability and fluid accumulation in periorbital tissues51150159157, MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid mitochondrial-derived peptide that translocates to the nucleus under metabolic stress and regulates glucose and lipid metabolism largely via activation of AMPK and modulation of mTOR and folate-cycle–linked pathways854140146.

Length and Sequence

Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 is 4 amino acids long, whereas MOTS-c is longer as it has a length of 16 amino acids. Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 is made up of a sequence of βAla, Histidine, Serine, Histidine. MOTS-c is made up of a sequence of Methionine, Arginine, Tryptophan, Glutamine, Glutamic acid, Methionine, Glycine, Tyrosine, Isoleucine, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Proline, Arginine, Lysine, Leucine, Arginine.

Receptor

Acetyl tetrapeptide-5

Acts as an enzyme inhibitor (eg, ACE-1, glycation-related pathways) rather than via a specific membrane receptor51159

MOTS-c

No dedicated cell-surface receptor has been definitively identified; signaling is primarily described via intracellular AMPK and related metabolic pathways8135146

Organism or Origin

Acetyl tetrapeptide-5

Fully synthetic cosmetic peptide (Eyeseryl) 150157

MOTS-c

Human mitochondrial peptide encoded in the 12S rRNA gene region54146

Gene

Acetyl tetrapeptide-5

Not assigned in the current dataset.

MOTS-c

MT-RNR1

Related articles

No related articles are linked to these peptides yet.

Sources

51[PDF] Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 - SkinMiles, https://skinmiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Matriskin-Ingredients.pdf
150The important eye peptide of acetyl tetrapeptide-5 - ChemicalBook, https://www.chemicalbook.com/article/the-important-eye-peptide-of-acetyl-tetrapeptide-5.htm
153Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5 (Eyeseryl) | CAS 820959-17-9 Manufacturer ..., https://www.conscientia-industrial.com/peptides/acetyl-tetrapeptide-5-eyeseryl-cas-820959-17-9
154Bioactive peptides in cosmetic formulations: Review of ..., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196978125001019
157Effects of Peptides in Cosmetics, https://aapep.bocsci.com/resources/cosmetic-peptides.html
159Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 | ACE-1 Inhibitor | MedChemExpress, https://www.medchemexpress.com/acetyl-tetrapeptide-5.html
8Mitochondrial-encoded peptide MOTS-c prevents pancreatic islet ..., https://www.nature.com/articles/s12276-025-01521-1
54MOTS-c - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOTS-c
135MOTS-c Promotes Glycolysis via AMPK-HIF-1α-PFKFB3 ... - PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40035775/
146MOTS-c: A promising mitochondrial-derived peptide for therapeutic ..., https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9905433/