Mitochondrial dysfunction is an underlying pathology in numerous diseases. Delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic cargo directly into mitochondria is a powerful approach to study and treat these diseases. The triphenylphosphonium (TPP+) moiety is the most widely used mitochondriotropic carrier. However, studies have shown that TPP+ is not inert; TPP+ conjugates uncouple mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. To date, all efforts toward addressing this problem have focused on modifying lipophilicity of TPP+-linker-cargo conjugates to alter mitochondrial uptake, albeit with limited success. We show that structural modifications to the TPP+ phenyl rings that decrease electron density on the phosphorus atom can abrogate uncoupling activity as compared to the parent TPP+ moiety and prevent dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential. These alterations of the TPP+ structure do not negatively affect the delivery of cargo to mitochondria. Results here identify the 4-CF3-phenyl TPP+ moiety as an inert mitochondria-targeting carrier to safely target pharmacophores and probes to mitochondria.

Type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance, impaired pancreatic β-cell insulin secretion, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Tissue-specific SWELL1 ablation impairs insulin signaling in adipose, skeletal muscle, and endothelium, and impairs β-cell insulin secretion and glycemic control. Here, we show that ICl,SWELL and SWELL1 protein are reduced in adipose and β-cells in murine and human diabetes. Combining cryo-electron microscopy, molecular docking, medicinal chemistry, and functional studies, we define a structure activity relationship to rationally-design active derivatives of a SWELL1 channel inhibitor (DCPIB/SN-401), that bind the SWELL1 hexameric complex, restore SWELL1 protein, plasma membrane trafficking, signaling, glycemic control and islet insulin secretion via SWELL1-dependent mechanisms. In vivo, SN-401 restores glycemic control, reduces hepatic steatosis/injury, improves insulin-sensitivity and insulin secretion in murine diabetes. These findings demonstrate that SWELL1 channel modulators improve SWELL1-dependent systemic metabolism in Type 2 diabetes, representing a first-in-class therapeutic approach for diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

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DNA-encoded chemical library (DEL) screens are a powerful hit generation tool in drug discovery, but the diversity of DEL chemical matter is dependent on developing robust reaction conditions that may be used on hundreds to millions of substrate combinations and that are compatible with the platform. Here, we disclose the first report of a general, aqueous, DNAcompatible C−N coupling condition that can now couple aliphatic amines, in addition to (hetero)aromatic amines, with a variety of (hetero)aryl iodides, bromides, and chlorides. The reported BippyPhos-Pd(OAc) 2 catalyst system has a wide substrate scope for both coupling partners, is operationally feasible for large scale DEL productions, uses common DEL building block solution stocks, and enables an expansion of DEL-accessible, drug-like chemical space.