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Depocyt is a sustained-release of cytarabine, meaning that, when injected into the body, cytarabine is meant to be slowly released into the bloodstream by encapsulating it within a liposome.
- Cytarabine is encapsulated within the liposome, where it will then be directly administered into the cerebral spinal fluid using either intraventricular or intralumbar methods.
- Although the mechanism of action for Liposomal Cytarabine is not entirely clear, it appears as though it interferes with DNA synthesis; more specifically, the drug interferes with the S phase of the cell cycle.
- Depocyt differs from the normal composition of human DNA by cytosine binding to a different sugar, arabinose. When cytarabine enters the body, it is quickly converted into cytosine arabinoside triphosphate, which is the damaging agent to DNA. When cytosine is normally bound to the deoxyribose sugar, it composes human DNA; however, because cytosine is bound to the arabinose sugar, it kills the cell.
- Cytarabine also appears to interfere with DNA synthesis by inhibiting DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase, and nucleotide reductase enzymes.