Brain Tumor Cells Destroyed by Mitochondrial “Smart Bomb”

In a study recently published in the journal ChemMedChem, scientists from the Houston Methodist Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Pituitary Tumor Center discovered an experimental drug that attacks brain tumor tissue by crippling its mitochondrial cells (energy source). The drug, called MP-MUS, has passed tests in both animal models and human-tissue and destroyed 90 to 95 percent of malignant glioma cells. Additionally, in other experiments, the drug did not seem to adversely affect healthy human brain cells (in vitro). This study compliments an extensive, soon-to-be-published study showing the same drug can treat human brain cancer growth in the brains of mice. “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, which we believe represents a powerful new approach to brain cancer.” To read more about this study, click here.