In vitro
Cytarabine (AraC) is phosphorylated into a triphosphate form (Ara-CTP) involving deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), which competes with dCTP for incorporation into DNA, and then blocks DNA synthesis by inhibiting the function of DNA and RNA polymerases. Cytarabine displays a higher growth inhibitory activity towards wild-type CCRF-CEM cells compared to other acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells with IC50 of 16 nM.