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Research Context
SS-31 (Szeto-Schiller peptide 31) is a synthetic tetrapeptide developed at Cornell University by Hazel Szeto and Peter Bhatt. It was designed to selectively target the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it interacts with cardiolipin — a phospholipid unique to the mitochondrial inner membrane that plays a critical role in the electron transport chain.
This mitochondria-targeting property makes SS-31 one of the most important tool compounds in mitochondrial research. It concentrates in mitochondria at 1,000-5,000-fold higher levels than in the cytoplasm, providing researchers with a compound that selectively accesses the organelle most central to cellular energy metabolism.
Published research spans mitochondrial bioenergetics, cardiolipin interaction studies, reactive oxygen species modulation, and age-related mitochondrial decline. SS-31 has been the subject of human clinical trials (under the name elamipretide) for mitochondrial myopathy and Barth syndrome, making it one of the more clinically advanced peptides in the research catalog.
Key References
Szeto HH. (2006). "Mitochondria-targeted peptide antioxidants: novel neuroprotective agents." AAPS J. 8(3):E521-E531. PMID: 17025271
Birk AV, et al. (2013). "The mitochondrial-targeted compound SS-31 re-energizes ischemic mitochondria by interacting with cardiolipin." J Am Soc Nephrol. 24(8):1250-1261. PMID: 23813215
Siegel MP, et al. (2013). "Mitochondrial-targeted peptide rapidly improves mitochondrial energetics." Aging Cell. 12(5):763-771. PMID: 23692570
Szeto HH, Birk AV. (2014). "Serendipity and the discovery of novel compounds that restore mitochondrial plasticity." Clin Pharmacol Ther. 96(6):672-683. PMID: 25188726
Reid Thompson W, et al. (2021). "A phase 2/3 randomized clinical trial followed by an open-label extension to evaluate the effectiveness of elamipretide in Barth syndrome." Genet Med. 23(3):471-478. PMID: 33077895