Furazolidone (Furoxone), a nitrofuran derivative, inhibits AML1-ETO transformed cells with IC50 value of 12.7 μM. It is antibacterial and antiprotozoal activity,

AML1-ETO:12.7 μM

Furazolidone displays potent antiproliferative properties at submicromolar concentrations and induces apoptosis in AML cell lines. Furazolidone treatment of certain AML cells induces myeloid cell differentiation by morphology and flow cytometry for CD11b expression, resulting in increased stability of tumor suppressor p53 protein in AML cells[1].

FZ accelerates its own metabolism in the chicken by induction of the activity of CPR whereas no effect is observed in the rat[2].

Leukemic cells are seeded in 96-well culture plates at a density of 1 or 2×104 viable cells/100 µl/well in triplicates and are treated for 24, 48, and 72 hours with an incremental concentration of FZD ranging from 1 µM to 50 µM. Colorimetric CellTiter 96® Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation assay is used to determine the cytotoxicity. The optical density at 492 nm is measured using a Multiskan Ascent® microplate photometer. IC50 values are determined by MTS assay when cells are treated with FZD for 72 hours and calculated with GraphPad Prism 5. Each experiment was in triplicate. (Only for Reference)