ICP-MS analysis of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles as a non-radiative, multiplex approach to quantify biodistribution and blood clearance

• Published in: Biomaterials Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 1509 - 1519
• Main Authors: Crayton, Samuel H., Elias, Drew R., Al Zaki, Ajlan, Cheng, Zhiliang, Tsourkas, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2012
• Subjects: Advanced Basic Science; Animals; Biodistribution; blood; Clearance; cost effectiveness; Dentistry; Dextrans - blood; Dextrans - pharmacokinetics; ICP-MS; image analysis; in vivo studies; iron oxides; Lanthanoid Series Elements - blood; Lanthanoid Series Elements - pharmacokinetics; Light; Magnetite Nanoparticles; mass spectrometry; Mice; Multiplex; Nanoparticle; nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; NIH 3T3 Cells; Particle Size; physicochemical properties; Reproducibility of Results; Scattering, Radiation; Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; Spectrophotometry, Atomic - methods; Static Electricity; Superparamagnetic iron oxide; Surface Properties; Tissue Distribution; XPS; Nanoparticle; Superparamagnetic iron oxide; Multiplex; XPS; ICP-MS; Clearance; Biodistribution
• ISSN: 0142-9612; 1878-5905; 1878-5905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.10.077

Recent advances in material science and chemistry have led to the development of nanoparticles with diverse physicochemical properties, e.g. size, charge, shape, and surface chemistry. Evaluating which physicochemical properties are best for imaging and therapeutic studies is challenging not only because of the multitude of samples to evaluate, but also because of the large experimental variability associated with in vivo studies (e.g. differences in tumor size, injected dose, subject weight, etc.). To address this issue, we have developed a lanthanide-doped nanoparticle system and analytical method that allows for the quantitative comparison of multiple nanoparticle compositions simultaneously. Specifically, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) with a range of different sizes and charges were synthesized, each with a unique lanthanide dopant. Following the simultaneous injection of the various SPIO compositions into tumor-bearing mice, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was used to quantitatively and orthogonally assess the concentration of each SPIO composition in serial blood samples and the resected tumor and organs. The method proved generalizable to other nanoparticle platforms, including dendrimers, liposomes, and polymersomes. This approach provides a simple, cost-effective, and non-radiative method to quantitatively compare tumor localization, biodistribution, and blood clearance of more than 10 nanoparticle compositions simultaneously, removing subject-to-subject variability.