To provide novel therapeutic compounds that target and inhibit a mitochondrial function, and may serve as anti-
cancer therapeutics.SOLUTION:
Alkyl-triphenylphosphonium compounds having a saturated, linear
alkyl chain of about 9 to about 18 carbons may be used as therapeutic agents to treat
cancer. Demonstrative compound dodecyl-TPP (d-TPP)
dose-dependently inhibits the propagation of
breast cancer stem cells and targets the bulk of the adherent of
cancer cells, by decreasing MCF-7
cell viability. Further, d-TPP potently inhibits a mitochondrial
oxygen consumption rate, while simultaneously shifting
cell metabolism toward a glycolytic pathway. This shift to a strict metabolic dependency on
glycolysis may be used to eradicate the residual glycolytic CSC
population, by using additional metabolic stressors. For example, d-TPP may be combined with a glycolytic inhibitor or an OXPHOS inhibitor, through co-administration or sequential administration, to treat cancer and eradicate CSCs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2