Table 1.

The list of mitochondria targeting molecules and its targeting mechanism.

Chemical nature	Group	Molecule	Targeting mechanism	Advantage/disadvantage	Ref.
Small molecule	TPP+	Mito-Q; Mito-Vit-E; Mito-TEMPOL; TPP+ functionalized liposomes; Ceria nanoparticle; Silica nanoparticles	Positive charge and lipid solubility	Easy to synthesis/cytotoxicity for drug delivery	7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Small molecule	Pyridinium salt	5BMF@HSA complex	Positive charge and lipophilic, HSA increasing water solubility	Easy to synthesis, tunable luminescence/cytotoxicity for drug delivery	16
Small molecule	DQA	QDAsomes	Amphipathic	Easy to synthesis, cytotoxicity for drug delivery/low endosomal escape ability and transfection efficiency	17,18
Small molecule	Ru/Ir	Ru/Ir complexes	Positive charge and lipophilic	Cytotoxicity for cancer therapy/multimodal therapy	19,20
Peptide	S-S peptides	SS-02, SS-31	Positive charge and lipophilic	Hypotoxicity, antioxidant/complex	21
Peptide	MPP	MPP	Positive charge and lipophilic	Hypotoxicity, tunability, desirable pharmacokinetic profiles/complex synthesis	22,23
CPMs	CPM	CPM1, CPM2, CPM3	Amphipathic	Efficient and universal delivery of cargos/complex synthesis	24
Mito-Porter	Octa arginine	(DF)-Mito-Porter, ASO-Mito-Porer, DOX-Mito-Porter	Lipid compositions promote its fusion with the mitochondrial membrane	Efficient and universal delivery/complex synthesis	25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Gramicidin S	Gramicidin S	XJB-5-131	High affinity for the membrane	Antioxidant/complex synthesis	30