Power of mitochondrial drug delivery systems to produce innovative nanomedicines

Mitochondria carry out various essential functions including ATP production, the regulation of apoptosis and possess their own genome (mtDNA). Delivering target molecules to this organelle, it would make it possible to control the functions of cells and living organisms and would allow us to develop a better understanding of life. Given the fact that mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in a variety of human disorders, delivering therapeutic molecules to mitochondria for the treatment of these diseases is an important issue. To date, several mitochondrial drug delivery system (DDS) developments have been reported, but a generalized DDS leading to therapy that exclusively targets mitochondria has not been established. This review focuses on mitochondria-targeted therapeutic strategies including antioxidant therapy, cancer therapy, mitochondrial gene therapy and cell transplantation therapy based on mitochondrial DDS. A particular focus is on nanocarriers for mitochondrial delivery with the goal of achieving mitochondria-targeting therapy. We hope that this review will stimulate the accelerated development of mitochondrial DDS.