First application of CE-ICP-MS for monitoring the formation of cisplatin targeting delivery systems with gold nanocarriers

Cisplatin is a drug frequently used in chemotherapy of various types of tumors due to its strong cytostatic activity against cancer cells. However, this therapy is not free from severe side effects related to the nonselective action of the drug. The solution to this problem could be the application of drug-targeted delivery systems (DTDSs). Gold nanoparticles can be used in such systems as selective drug carriers, ensuring its transportation through the bloodstream to destination tissue. The method of DTDSs analysis providing qualitative and quantitative information about the formation of this conjugation is crucial to establish the kinetics of reaction and stoichiometry of reagents, which ensures the best drug binding rate. Moreover, the status of so far proposed techniques/methods dedicated to elaborating the course of DTDSs formation is preliminary and in majority guarantee only the confirmation of drug?carrier conjugate formation. In this paper, we demonstrate the procedures of reagents’ preparation and cisplatin?gold nanoparticles DTDS formation, which have a significant influence on the rate and stoichiometry of the reaction. We also present the novel application of CE-ICP-MS hyphenation for effective separation and online monitoring of all components of the reaction mixture.