Also known as Elamipretide · Bendavia
Mitochondria-targeted cardiolipin-binding tetrapeptide.
SS-31 (elamipretide) is a synthetic tetrapeptide that concentrates in the inner mitochondrial membrane and binds cardiolipin, stabilizing electron transport chain organization in clinical trials for primary mitochondrial myopathy and Barth syndrome.
SS-31 (elamipretide, formerly Bendavia) is a synthetic tetrapeptide engineered to concentrate in the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it binds the phospholipid cardiolipin. Cardiolipin is essential to the organization of the electron-transport chain, and stabilizing it is the peptide’s proposed mechanism.
Unlike many catalogued peptides, SS-31 has advanced into clinical trials — for primary mitochondrial myopathy, Barth syndrome, and heart failure — though it has not received FDA approval. It is among the most clinically studied mitochondria-targeted compounds.
Cardiolipin binding; preservation of cristae architecture and ETC efficiency.
Behind every vial of SS-31 is the same exacting pipeline every research peptide runs — but the chemistry plays out differently for this molecule. Here is how SS-31, specifically, is brought into being.
On paper, SS-31 is C32H49N9O5 — about 639.8 daltons of precisely arranged atoms. Before a single bond is made, the target sequence, salt form, and purity threshold are written down as the contract the finished material must meet.
SS-31's chain is short but unusual — it carries D-amino acids and non-natural residues that help it resist enzymatic breakdown, but demand specialized, costlier building blocks and careful coupling on the synthesizer. Its C-terminus is amidated rather than left as a free acid — a defined modification the synthesis has to deliver, not an afterthought.
The crude mixture — SS-31 plus its deletions and side products — is then separated on preparative HPLC, and where the cut is taken decides the difference between a genuinely pure peptide and a barely-passable one.
A real batch of SS-31 proves itself: identity confirmed by mass spectrometry against its ~639.8 Da, purity read directly off an analytical HPLC trace, water and counterion content measured. That batch-specific certificate of analysis is the only honest way to know what is actually in a vial of SS-31 — and a short, cold, accountable chain of custody is how that purity survives the trip to your bench.
Producing SS-31 to a genuine purity spec means solid-phase synthesis, preparative HPLC purification, and batch quality control — none of it cheap, and none of it something you can verify by eye.
Don't judge a vial by its cake. A fluffy, good-looking lyophilized powder reflects bulking agents and freeze-drying parameters — not purity. Insist on a batch-specific certificate of analysis.
Recent clinical trials and publications mentioning SS-31, pulled automatically from ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed and refreshed daily. Listings are unfiltered search results, not curated endorsements.
SS-31 (elamipretide) is a mitochondria-targeted tetrapeptide that binds cardiolipin to stabilize the inner mitochondrial membrane, studied in mitochondrial disease and heart failure.
Elamipretide is the development name for SS-31; both refer to the same cardiolipin-binding peptide.
Clinical research contexts include primary mitochondrial myopathy, Barth syndrome, and heart failure.
No — it remains investigational despite clinical trials. This page is a research and educational reference.
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