Researchers Engineer ‘Mild’ Mitochondrial Uncouplers in Preclinical Study
The Chemical Science report presents a tuning strategy to raise cellular energy use, with key safety questions deferred to future animal studies.
Overview
- Scientists at the University of Technology Sydney and Memorial University report arylamide‑substituted fatty acids that act as controllable mitochondrial uncouplers.
- The team fine‑tuned transmembrane proton transport to modulate energy expenditure, aiming to separate desired metabolic effects from toxicity.
- Several compounds increased mitochondrial activity without immediate cellular damage or overt ATP disruption, while others reproduced the hazardous uncoupling seen with DNP.
- The milder variants lowered cellular oxidative stress, pointing to possible metabolic and neuroprotective benefits that remain to be validated beyond cells.
- The work, published in Chemical Science in December 2025, is early‑stage and lacks animal or human data, positioning the results as a design framework rather than a therapeutic claim.