(2R,3R,4R)-2-(6-aMino-9H-purin-9-yl)tetrahydrofuran-3,4-diol

Erythrofuranosyladenine, also known as 9-beta-D-Erythrofuranosyladenine and ETA, is a nontoxic MTAP substrate. Erythrofuranosyladenine is an effective salvage agent for methylthioadenosine phosphorylase–selective therapy of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with L-alanosine. The cytotoxicity of EFA to hematopoietic progenitors erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-Es) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GMs) was at least 26- to 41-fold less than that of MTA. EFA selectively rescued MTAP+ MOLT-4 cells from L-alanosine toxicity at 25 microM with negligible toxicity even at 100 microM. EFA is an effective agent for salvaging MTAP+ cells from L-alanosine toxicity and is superior to MTA due to lower cytotoxicity.