Mitochondria are recognized as one of the most important targets for new drug design in cancer, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. Currently, the most effective way to deliver drugs specifically to mitochondria is by covalent linking a lipophilic cation such as an alkyltriphenylphosphonium moiety to a pharmacophore of interest. Other delocalized lipophilic cations, such as rhodamine, natural and synthetic mitochondria-targeting peptides, and nanoparticle vehicles, have also been used for mitochondrial delivery of small molecules. Depending on the approach used, and the potentials of cell and mitochondrial membranes, more than 1000-fold higher mitochondrial concentration can be achieved. Mitochondrial targeting has been developed to study mitochondrial physiology and dysfunction and the interaction between mitochondria and other subcellular organelles and for treatment of a variety of diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer. In this review, we discuss efforts to target small-molecule compounds to mitochondria for probing mitochondria function, as diagnostic tools and potential therapeutics. We describe the physicochemical basis for mitochondrial accumulation of lipophilic cations, synthetic chemistry strategies to target compounds to mitochondria, mitochondrial probes and sensors, and examples of mitochondrial targeting of bioactive compounds. Finally, we review published attempts to apply mitochondria-targeted agents for the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Hydroethidine (or dihydroethidium) (HE) is the most popular fluorogenic probe used for detecting intracellular superoxide radical anion. The reaction between superoxide and HE generates a highly specific red fluorescent product, 2-hydroxyethidium (2-OH-E+). In biological systems, another red fluorescent product, ethidium (E+), is also formed, usually at a much higher concentration than 2-OH-E+. In this article, we have reviewed the methods to selectively detect the superoxide-specific product (2-OH-E+) and the factors affecting its levels in cellular and biological systems. The most important conclusion of the present review is that it is nearly impossible to assess the intracellular levels of the superoxide specific product, 2-OH-E+, using the confocal microscopy or other fluorescence-based microscopic assays and that it is essential to measure by HPLC the intracellular HE and other oxidation products of HE, in addition to 2-OH-E+, in order to fully understand the origin of red fluorescence. The chemical reactivity of mitochondria-targeted hydroethidine (Mito-HE, MitoSOX Red ®) with superoxide is similar to the reactivity of HE with superoxide and therefore, all of the limitations attributed to the HE assay are applicable to Mito-HE (or Mito-SOX) as well.

Various detection methods of the specific product of reaction of superoxide (O(2)(*-)) with hydroethidine (HE), namely 2-hydroxyethidium (2-OH-E(+)), and with its mitochondria-targeted analog are described. The detailed protocol for quantification of 2-OH-E(+), the unique product of HE/O(2)(*-) in cellular systems, is presented. The procedure includes cell lysis, protein precipitation using acidified methanol and HPLC analysis of the lysate. Using this protocol, we determined the intracellular levels of 2-OH-E(+) and E(+) in the range of 10 and 100 pmol per mg protein in unstimulated macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells. In addition to HE, 2-OH-E(+) and E(+), we detected several dimeric products of HE oxidation in cell lysates. As several oxidation products of HE are formed, the superoxide-specific product, 2-OH-E(+) needs to be separated from other HE-derived products for unequivocal quantification.

In this study, we show that boronates, a class of synthetic organic compounds, react rapidly and stoichiometrically with peroxynitrite (ONOO−) to form stable hydroxy derivatives as major products. Using stopped-flow kinetic technique, we measured the second order rate constants for the reaction with ONOO−, hypochlorous acid (HOCl), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and found that ONOO− reacts with 4-acetylphenylboronic acid nearly a million times (k = 1.6 × 106 M−1 s−1) faster than H2O2 (k = 2.2 M −1 s−1) and over two hundred times faster than HOCl (k = 6.2 × 103 M−1 s−1). Nitric oxide (•NO) and superoxide (O •2−) together, but not alone, oxidized boronates to the same phenolic products. Similar reaction profiles were obtained with other boronates. Results from this study will likely help develop a novel class of fluorescent probes for detection and imaging of ONOO− formed in cellular and cell-free systems.

Metformin (Met) is an approved antidiabetic drug currently being explored for repurposing in cancer treatment based on recent evidence of its apparent chemopreventive properties. Met is weakly cationic and targets the mitochondria to induce cytotoxic effects in tumor cells, albeit not very effectively. We hypothesized that increasing its mitochondria-targeting potential by attaching a positively-charged lipophilic substituent would enhance the antitumor activity of Met. In pursuit of this question, we synthesized a set of mitochondria-targeted Met analogs (Mito-Mets) with varying alkyl chain lengths containing a triphenylphosphonium cation (TPP+). In particular, the analog Mito-Met10, synthesized by attaching TPP+ to Met via a 10-carbon aliphatic side chain, was nearly 1,000 times more efficacious than Met at inhibiting cell proliferation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Notably, in PDAC cells Mito-Met10 potently inhibited mitochondrial complex I, stimulating superoxide and AMPK activation, but had no effect in non-transformed control cells. Moreover, Mito-Met10 potently triggered G1 cell cycle phase arrest in PDAC cells, enhanced their radiosensitivity and more potently abrogated PDAC growth in preclinical mouse models, compared to Met. Collectively, our findings show how improving the mitochondrial targeting of Met enhances its anticancer activities, including in aggressive cancers like PDAC in great need of more effective therapeutic options.