Metallomics for drug development: Serum protein binding and analysis of an anticancer tris(8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) drug using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

•Protein-mediated metabolism largely determines the mode-of-action of metallodrugs.•ICP-MS is shown apt to monitor serum–protein interactions of an anticancer Ga drug.•Both the kinetics and equilibrium of drug binding are characterized.•Direct serum assaying is also demonstrated using blood samples from volunteers.

The application of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) assay for quantifying in vitro binding of a gallium-based anticancer drug, tris(8-quinolinolato)gallium(III), to serum albumin and transferrin and in human serum is described. The distribution of the drug between the protein-rich and protein-free fractions was assessed via ICP-MS measurement of total gallium in ultrafiltrates. Comparative kinetic studies revealed that the drug exhibits a different reactivity toward individual proteins. While the maximum possible binding to albumin (~10%) occurs practically immediately, interaction with transferrin has a step-like character and the equilibrium state (with more than 50% binding) is reached for about 48 h. Drug transformation into the bound form in serum, also very fast, results in almost quantitative binding (~95%). The relative affinity of protein–drug binding was characterized in terms of the association constants ranging from 103 to 104 M−1. In order to further promote clinical testing of the gallium drug, the ICP-MS method was applied for direct quantification of gallium in human serum spiked with the drug. The detection limit for gallium was found to be as low as 20 ng L–1. The repeatability was better than 8% (as RSD) and the achieved recoveries were in the range 99–103%.

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