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Compound guide
SS-31: what the research covers
A four-residue peptide that accumulates in the inner mitochondrial membrane without needing a transporter, and binds a phospholipid rather than a protein.
What SS-31 is
SS-31 is D-Arg-dimethylTyr-Lys-Phe-NH2, one of the Szeto-Schiller series of mitochondria-targeted tetrapeptides. The design is unusual and deliberate: alternating aromatic and basic residues give the molecule a net positive charge spread over a small lipophilic frame, which is enough for it to partition into the inner mitochondrial membrane and concentrate there by a factor of more than a thousand relative to cytosol — without a transporter and without depending on membrane potential.
Its binding partner is not a protein. Cardiolipin is a phospholipid found almost exclusively in the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it organises the respiratory chain complexes and the cristae architecture that holds them. SS-31 binds cardiolipin, and the reported effect is to stabilise that organisation.
In the clinical literature the compound appears as elamipretide.
A lipid target, and what follows from it
Targeting a lipid rather than a receptor changes the shape of the pharmacology. There is no selectivity profile across receptor subtypes to establish, no agonist or antagonist distinction, and the dose-response relationship is governed by partitioning into a membrane compartment rather than by occupancy of a binding site. Work on SS-31 therefore reads more like membrane biophysics than conventional receptor pharmacology.
What the published work reports: protection of cristae structure and respiratory chain function under stress, reduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production, and benefit in ischaemia-reperfusion, heart failure, acute kidney injury and mitochondrial myopathy models. Clinical trials have been run in primary mitochondrial myopathy, with mixed results that are worth reading directly rather than through summaries.
Within this catalogue it pairs naturally with MOTS-c: both are mitochondrial, but one works on membrane architecture and the other on signalling out of the organelle.
How Amino Club supplies it
Supplied lyophilised in sealed vials as SS-31, specified at 99% purity or better by HPLC with identity confirmed by mass spectrometry and released against the batch Certificate of Analysis; the lab testing page documents how.
Two synthetic features make identity confirmation substantive rather than routine: the D-configuration arginine and the dimethylated tyrosine. Neither is a default outcome of peptide synthesis, and a preparation containing the ordinary L-arginine or an unmethylated tyrosine would be a different compound. The powder is stored below −18 °C; solutions are prepared in small volumes, and because the peptide partitions into lipid readily, container choice is worth considering at low concentrations. Diluents are under reconstitution supplies.
Related reading
SS-31 sits in the longevity research peptides group with MOTS-c, NAD+, Epithalon, FOXO4-DRI, Thymalin and Thymosin Alpha-1.
Every guide is indexed in the research library. Certificates and storage are covered on the FAQ, quantity pricing through bulk and wholesale.
Research use only
SS-31 supplied by Amino Club is a laboratory reference material. It is not a medicine, not a supplement, and not for human or veterinary use, and no dosing guidance or administration protocol is provided. The full terms are in the research use policy.