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Development and validation of a high-throughput and green ultra-performance convergence chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for quantification of methoxy-polyethylene glycol propionic acid polymers

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Abstract

As a synthetic polymer, methoxy-polyethylene glycol propionic acid (M-PEG-PA) is widely used in the biomedicine field. Unraveling the pharmacokinetic behavior of M-PEG6-PA in vivo is crucial for evaluating the safety and efficiency of M-PEG-PA-related polymers or drug delivery systems. A high-throughput and green ultra-performance convergence chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPC2-MS/MS) assay was firstly developed and validated for the determination of M-PEG6-PA polymers in a biological matrix. The MRM transition (mass to charge ratio, precursor ions→fragment ions) of m/z 367.2→118.9 was used to quantify M-PEG6-PA in this study. The throughput of the assay is high and the total running time for each sample was only 2 min. The linear range of the developed UPC2-MS/MS assay for quantification of M-PEG6-PA in a biological matrix is 0.05 to 30 μg/mL (R≥0.995). Intra-day and inter-day precisions for the determination of M-PEG6-PA by this analytical assay were <6.99%. The absolute recoveries and matrix effects of M-PEG6-PA ranged from 79.50 to 92.47% and 68.72 to 81.73%, respectively. The UPC2-MS/MS assay was successfully applied to quantify the concentrations of M-PEG6-PA polymers in rat plasma samples.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant Nos: DUT23YG228, DUT24MS018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning, 116023, PR China

    Chunpeng Feng & Lei Yin

  2. School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, Liaoning, 124221, China

    Chunpeng Feng, Jiye Tian, Qisheng Fang, Yajie Cheng, Yue Deng, JiaRui Zhang, Shuang Feng, Hecheng Wang & Lei Yin

  3. JenKem Technology Co., Ltd., Tianjin, 300450, China

    Qingbin Wang & Xuan Zhao

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Contributions

Chunpeng Feng: writing—original draft, review and editing, methodology, formal analysis, data curation, conceptualization. Jiye Tian: formal analysis, data curation. Qisheng Fang: formal analysis, data curation, writing—review and editing. Yajie Cheng: sample preparation. Yue Deng: sample preparation. Jiarui Zhang: sample preparation. Shuang Feng: validation. Qingbin Wang: project administration. Hecheng Wang: writing—review and editing. Xuan Zhao: project administration. Lei Yin: writing—review and editing, supervision funding acquisition, conceptualization, formal analysis, project administration, investigation.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hecheng Wang, Xuan Zhao or Lei Yin.

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Three female rats (200±20 g) were obtained from Liaoning Changsheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Animal welfare and experimental procedures were performed according to the Guidance for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Research Council of USA 1996 and related ethical regulations of Dalian University of Technology.

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Feng, C., Tian, J., Fang, Q. et al. Development and validation of a high-throughput and green ultra-performance convergence chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for quantification of methoxy-polyethylene glycol propionic acid polymers. Anal Bioanal Chem (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-025-05849-5

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