Facilitation of Electron Transfer in the Presence of Mitochondria-Targeting Molecule SS31

Electron transfer (ET) processes in mitochondria are very important for the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the common source of the chemical energy. The inability to transfer electrons efficiently in mitochondrial ET chain plays a major role in age associated diseases, including diabetes and cancer. In this work, we used the time dependent absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy to study the electron transfer kinetics along the ET chain of mitochondria. Our spectroscopic results suggest that SS31, a small peptide molecule targeting to the mitochondrial inner membrane, can facilitate electron transfer and increase ATP production. We show that SS31 targets cytochrome c to both increase the availability of state and also potentially reduce the energy barrier required to reduce cytochrome c.