Studies on non‐covalent associations of immunosuppressive drugs with serum albumin using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization (ion‐spray) mass spectrometry was employed in the detection of non‐covalent interactions of immunosuppressive drugs with proteins. Non‐covalent complexes of albumin (rat and bovine) with FK506, dihydro‐FK506, and FK520 were observed. No complexation was detected between albumin and cyclosporin A (CsA), even at a protein‐ligand molar ratio of 1:20. It is suggested that the lack of detection of an albumin–CsA non‐covalent complex may be attributed to dissociation of the weakly associated species during ion vaporization. Nonetheless, preliminary results indicate that ion‐spray mass spectrometry has potential in qualitative evaluation of drug–plasma protein interaction.