mitozippers · Mitochondrial membrane-targeted compounds for cancer therapy

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Europe. The economic impact of cancer in Europe has been quantified with a total cost of 126 billion €, including healthcare costs and productivity losses. Although many efforts have been devoted to eradicate cancer, the current treatments are associated with severe side effects and high toxicity. Alternatively, the next generation of cancer treatments targets only malignant cells, which exhibit unique biochemical hallmarks different from their normal counterparts. For example, cancer cell mitochondria are structurally and functionally different from healthy cells. As mitochondria are the waterline of cellular viability, they represent a more effective therapeutic target as compared to current protein targeted therapies. Here, we propose a novel approach whereby the control of cell proliferation and survival is achieved by means of regulation of the membrane properties of the cancer cell mitochondria by means of a lipophilic cationic drug, which efficiently accumulates in mitochondria. Our approach meets the requirements of developing, protecting and commercializing alternative therapies leading to an improvement of life quality and survival rate of cancer patients as well as an improvement in economic terms.