Quantitative bioimaging of platinum group elements in tumor spheroids

Limited drug penetration into tumor tissue is a significant factor to the effectiveness of cancer therapy. Tumor spheroids, a 3D cell culture model system, can be used to study drug penetration for pharmaceutical development. In this study, a method for quantitative bioimaging of platinum group elements by laser ablation (LA) coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is presented. Different matrix-matched standards were used to develop a quantitative LA-ICP-MS method with high spatial resolution. To investigate drug penetration, tumor spheroids were incubated with platinum complexes (Pt(II)acetylacetonate, cisplatin) and the palladium tagged photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (mTHPP). Distribution and accumulation of the pharmaceuticals were determined with the developed method. [Display omitted] •A method for quantitative elemental imaging analysis in tumor spheroids was developed.•Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry imaging was used.•External quantification was carried out by elemental standards embedded in gelatin.•Enrichment of platinum and palladium complexes in the spheroids was shown.