An experimental drug that attacks brain tumor tissue by crippling the cells’ energy source called the mitochondria has passed early tests in animal models and human tissue cultures, say Houston Methodist scientists.

Our past work has shown that MP-MUS has very low toxicity until it gets into tumor cells. Once it arrives, it is changed to its active form, doing a lot of damage where we want it to, leaving healthy brain cells alone — a bit like a ‘smart bomb.’ To our knowledge, this is the first known example of selective mitochondrial chemotherapy.