Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS assay for the quantification of cintirorgon (LYC-55716) in mouse plasma and tissue homogenates

Abstract

Cintirorgon (LYC-55716) is a promising first-in-class antitumor agent as a RORγ agonist in the treatment against various types of cancer. To support preclinical mouse studies, a bioanalytical method was developed and successfully applied for quantification of cintirorgon in mouse plasma and tissue homogenates using LC-MS/MS. The method was fully validated in mouse plasma and partial validation was performed in eight different homogenates originating from brain, kidney, liver, lung, small intestine, small intestine content, spleen, and testis. Sample preparation was performed using 96-well plates for fast and efficient analysis. Protein precipitation was done by addition of 20 µL acetonitrile containing monensin as internal standard to 10 µL sample. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Polaris 3 C18-A column using gradient elution with 0.2% (v/v) formic acid and 0.2% (v/v) ammonium hydroxide in water (A) and methanol (B) as eluents. The total run time was 3 min. Detection was carried out with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization operated in the positive ion-mode. Quantification could be accomplished within a linear validated concentration range of 5–4,000 ng/mL (10–4,000 ng/mL in brain homogenates) with an intra- and inter-day precision between 4.6–14.7% and 5.1–15.6% (including the LLOQ), respectively, and accuracies between 89.1%–111.2%. The method was successfully applied to a preclinical study with cintirorgon in mice.