SHMOOSE_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as Small human mitochondrial ORF over serine tRNA
A mitochondrial microprotein tied to Alzheimer's risk through a common variant. Lab and genetics work only.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is SHMOOSE?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It is not a treatment. The reason it matters is genetic: the variant that led to its discovery changes residue 47 from aspartic acid to asparagine, and carriers were reported to have about 30% more Alzheimer's risk along with faster brain shrinkage. In the laboratory the peptide binds mitofilin on the inner mitochondrial membrane and raises how much oxygen mitochondria use.
SHMOOSE is a 58-amino-acid mitochondrial microprotein, its name short for small human mitochondrial open reading frame over serine tRNA. It was found by mapping the Alzheimer's-associated mitochondrial variant rs2853499 to a previously unannotated reading frame, and it has a reviewed entry in UniProt's curated protein set, as humanin, MOTS-c and several of the SHLP peptides do.
What it's used for
Nothing. It is a research finding about mitochondrial genetics and Alzheimer's risk. No human has been given it as a treatment and no supplier lists it.
How does SHMOOSE work?
What it does in the body, and where.SHMOOSE is coded inside mitochondria, in a small reading frame that sits over the serine tRNA region and runs into MT-ND5. The discovery ran backward: a variant already linked to Alzheimer's disease turned out to sit inside a protein-coding stretch nobody had annotated.
- 01From variant to proteinThe mitochondrial variant rs2853499, also written m.12372G>A, changes residue 47 of this microprotein from aspartic acid to asparagine. That form is written SHMOOSE.D47N and was compared with the usual version in the laboratory work.
- 02It binds mitofilinMitofilin, also called MIC60, shapes the folds of the inner mitochondrial membrane where energy is made. SHMOOSE binds it, raises oxygen consumption and lowers superoxide, and the superoxide effect weakens when mitofilin is taken away.
- 03Detected, not just predictedMost microprotein claims rest on a reading frame that could in principle be translated. Here the authors reported two SHMOOSE fragments found in mitochondria by mass spectrometry, and they called this the first such detection for a mitochondrial-encoded microprotein.
A schematic of the compound's mechanism, not a diagnostic image.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
The human findings
Early research- Human observationCarrying the rs2853499 variant was reported to raise Alzheimer's risk by about 30%, alongside faster brain shrinkage and lower metabolism in vulnerable regions.
- Human observationAbout a quarter of people of European ancestry carry it, so it is common rather than rare.
- Human observationSHMOOSE levels in spinal fluid correlated with age, with the Alzheimer's marker tau and with brain white matter volume.
- No dataThe 30% figure is quoted here as published. The journal's own page is paywalled, though a free copy of the paper sits in PubMed Central, and no confidence interval for that figure appears in the abstract or the review that repeats it.
In cells and animals
Research only- Lab studyIt binds mitofilin on the inner mitochondrial membrane and raises oxygen consumption. A 2023 review of the family adds that it increases spare respiratory capacity and lowers superoxide, with the superoxide effect muted when mitofilin is removed.
- lab-analysisTwo of its fragments were detected in mitochondria by mass spectrometry. That is stronger evidence of a real protein than a predicted reading frame.
- Animal studyGiven straight into the brain's fluid spaces in rats, it changed gene expression in the hypothalamus within 24 hours.
- No dataNo one has tested whether giving it to a person does anything, by any route.
The 30% figure is the extra Alzheimer's risk that comes with carrying a variant, not an effect of taking SHMOOSE. Nobody has taken it. The variant's own description was wrong in the original paper and was fixed in a January 2023 correction: residue 47 changes from aspartic acid to asparagine, not from glutamine to aspartic acid. The animal work also went directly into the brain's fluid spaces, so it says nothing about what an injection or a capsule would do.
The published record
Papers and trials about SHMOOSE
6 papers tagged human · 3 not reviews or lab · 0 clinical trial publications
Furthest stage reached: No clinical trial on record
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count.
At a glance
Four things to know about SHMOOSE
Evidence
Category
Brain, mood and sleep
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
Nothing published
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.No human dose exists, not applicable. Not applicable No range
Nothing is taken, so there is no schedule to follow.
Nothing publishedNo figure
No pharmacokinetic study exists in any species. The animal work bypassed the bloodstream entirely by injecting into the brain's fluid spaces.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.SHMOOSE is not injected
It is taken not taken as a treatment. No human dose exists. The animal work put it directly into the brain's fluid spaces by intracerebroventricular injection, a route with no home or clinic equivalent. Any dose quoted for it would be invented.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Nothing to store: it is not taken as a treatment.
SHMOOSE is not used as a medicine or a supplement, so no home storage question arises. Laboratory suppliers ship research material frozen and state their own handling conditions on the certificate that comes with it.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Solubility, computed: 14% charged residues, 43% hydrophobic. Acid may help.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Any human use: there is no safety data, no dose and no supply
- Reading the variant as a diagnosis: it is a risk association in population data, not a test result
Stop and get help
- Not applicable. Nothing is taken
Common effects
- Unknown. Measured only in cells, in rats and in human spinal fluid samples
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is SHMOOSE approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.No. SHMOOSE is not approved for any use, anywhere. It is sold labeled for laboratory research only, and there is no legal route to buy it for human use.
- Approval statusResearch only
- RouteNot taken as a treatment
- Checked23 October 2026
- DoseNo dose has been established in people.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
What has happened recently
No regulatory status anywhere. There is no FDA GSRS record, no INN and no registered trial. Its identity is established in UniProt's reviewed Swiss-Prot set as accession C0HM83. That entry also records the D47N variant as an Alzheimer's risk factor and mitofilin as an interaction partner. The paper carries a correction published January 20, 2023 that fixed the byline, two missing ADNI statements and a chemistry typo about the variant.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like SHMOOSE?
Others in Brain, mood and sleep, side by side.If you're weighing SHMOOSE, it's worth reading RP001v63, Neurotensin, and Semax in the same class.
A mitochondrial microprotein tied to Alzheimer's risk through a common variant. Lab and genetics work only.
- Dose
- No human dose exists
- How often
- Not applicable
A Hong Kong university spin-off's lead candidate, built on a published 21-residue peptide called BIND.
- Dose
- No human dose exists
- How often
- Not established
One of the foundational neuropeptides. Decades of biology, no approved use.
- Dose
- No established dose
- How often
- Not applicable
A peptide used for sharper focus, memory, and mental clarity.
- Dose
- 0.2 up to 0.6 mg per day
- How often
- 1-2x daily
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- Miller, Kim, Yen, Cohen et al., Molecular Psychiatry, 2023(2023)Molecular Psychiatry 28:1813-1826, published online September 21, 2022. Maps rs2853499 to the SHMOOSE reading frame, reports two mass-spectrometry-detected fragments in mitochondria, spinal fluid correlations with age, tau and white matter volume, mitofilin binding and higher mitochondrial oxygen consumption.
- Correction, Molecular Psychiatry, January 20, 2023(2023)Restores the ADNI line and one author to the byline, adds two missing ADNI statements, and corrects the variant's description from "glutamine to aspartic acid" to "aspartic acid to asparagine." No figures or data changed.
- UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot entry C0HM83, Protein SHMOOSE(2026)Reviewed entry, Homo sapiens, 58 amino acids, listed with the alternative name small human mitochondrial ORF over serine tRNA. Mitofilin (IMMT, Q16891) appears as an interactor.
- Mitochondrial microproteins review, Genes, 2023(2023)Gives the variant as m.12372G>A toward the 3' end of the reading frame, states carriers had a 30% greater Alzheimer's risk with accelerated atrophy and hypometabolism, and places humanin at 24 residues in the 16S rRNA region and MOTS-c at 16 residues in the 12S rRNA region.
Beyond these, 8 records are indexed. Browse the records