The Sound of Evolution
Daunorubicin
Mechanism of action:
Daunorubicin is an antineoplastic antibiotic belonging to the anthracycline class, originally isolated from Streptomyces peucetius. The planar aromatic ring structure of daunorubicin can intercalate between DNA base pairs, altering DNA conformation and interfering with DNA replication and transcription, thereby inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. In addition, daunorubicin stabilizes the DNA-topoisomerase II complex and prevents the re-ligation of double-stranded DNA after cleavage, resulting in irreparable DNA double-strand breaks and ultimately triggering apoptosis.
Reference(s):
1. Balis FM et al. (1983). Clinical pharmacokinetics of commonly used anticancer drugs. Clin Pharmacokinet.
2. Cafaro A et al. (2020). CPX-351 daunorubicin-cytarabine liposome: a novel formulation to treat patients with newly diagnosed secondary acute myeloid leukemia. Minerva Med.
3. Mayer LD et al. (2019). CPX-351: a nanoscale liposomal co-formulation of daunorubicin and cytarabine with unique biodistribution and tumor cell uptake properties. Int J Nanomedicine.