Design SS-31-like cardiolipin stabilizing peptide

Objective

Design a research-only SS-31-like peptide candidate that may stabilize cardiolipin-rich mitochondrial inner membranes. Context: - This is for SciDEX v2 beta testing and should be treated as a hypothesis-generating artifact, not medical advice or a therapeutic recommendation. - SS-31/elamipretide evidence to consider: - PMID 23813215 / DOI 10.1681/ASN.2012121216: SS-31 interacts with cardiolipin and protects cristae in an ischemia model. - PMID 32273339 / DOI 10.1074/jbc.RA119.012094: SS-31 binds lipid bilayers and modulates surface electrostatics. - PMID 35913044 / DOI 10.7554/eLife.75531: tetrapeptide structure-activity relationships for alternating aromatic/cationic mitochondrial compounds. - PubChem CID 11764719: elamipretide molecular metadata. Create these files in the current workspace: - lab_notes.md: intermediate notes, assumptions, source refs, rejected alternatives, risks, assay ideas. - design_description.md: description of the proposed peptide artifact. - descriptor_score.py: small deterministic descriptor/scoring script for aromatic/cationic balance, sequence length, and flags. - manifest.json: machine-readable summary with candidate id, canonical sequence surrogate, modified sequence notation, sources, and next experiments. Candidate constraints: - Prefer a short SS-31-like aromatic-cationic peptidomimetic. - Use a canonical amino-acid surrogate sequence that can fit a SciDEX protein_design artifact. - Make uncertainty explicit. - Avoid dosing, administration instructions, or claims of efficacy. Return a concise summary and list all files created.