title: Development of a method for the quantification of the molar gold concentration in tumour cells exposed to gold-containing drugs.
abstract: The knowledge of the cellular molar concentration of a drug is an extremely important parameter for the discussion and interpretation of its efficacy and bioavailability. Concerning metal complexes, electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy (ETAAS) offers a valuable analytical tool. However, matrix effects often hamper proper quantification of the metal concentration in biological tissues. This paper describes the development of an ETAAS method for the quantification of the molar gold concentration in HT-29 colon carcinoma cells. ETAAS analytical conditions were optimised and a factor was developed which allows the calculation of the molar cellular gold concentration from the measured gold per cellular biomass value. The method was used to quantify the gold content in HT-29 cells after exposure to the gold drug auranofin. Results indicated a strong cellular uptake of auranofin (compared to other metal anticancer drugs), which significantly correlated with the antiproliferative effects triggered by this agent.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany. ottingo@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scheffler
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gust
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D002455:Cell Division; D006046:Gold / Q000032:analysis*; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006046:Gold