Mitochondria Targeting Drug Delivery Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Cell mitochondria are much more than the power stations generating ATP, which is then distributed to meet the energy requirements of cell functions. Apart from the nucleus, they are the only subcellular organelles containing their own genome, and the related mitochondrial proteome is of crucial importance to cell functions. Furthermore, mitochondria are the main source of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play crucial roles in cell signalling and homeostasis, and have also been found to control the response to cell death signals. Thus, both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and mitochondrial dysfunctions are associated with several pathologies, including neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. This led to the emergence of the so-called mitochondrial medicine for treating mitochondria dysfunctions and, complementary to this, to the need for specific and efficient delivery of therapeutic agents and/or imaging agents to mitochondria. A number of mitotropic agents that can target mitochondria have been identified, from delocalized lipophilic cations to mitochondria-penetrating peptides. Mitochondrial targeting has so-far been pursued by either direct conjugation of bioactive molecules, or imaging groups, with these mitotropic agents, or with mitotropic functionalization of drug-loaded delivery systems, such as complexes, emulsions, polymers, liposomes and lipid nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, nanocarbons, etc. The field is relative new and further research is needed, as these systems, before reaching mitochondria, must evade the immune system, access specific tissues/organs, and finally have the ability to translocate through cell and mitochondrial membranes. This Special Issue invites both mini-review and review articles to summarize the current knowledge, and original research articles to advance our knowledge on both novel mitotropic agents and mitochondriotropic drug delivery systems aiming to increase scientific interest on this promising, but not yet clinically proven, area of research.

Dr. Dimitris Tsiourvas
Guest Editor

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• mitochondria dysfunctions
• mitotropic agents
• mitochondrial membrane potential
• controlled release
• triggered release
• bioimaging
• pharmacokinetics
• biodistribution