Preparation of Metal-p-aminobenzyl-DOTA Complex Using Magnetic Particles for Bio-tagging in Laser Ablation ICP-MS

Metal-p-$NH_2$-Bn-DOTA (paraammionobenzyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid: ABDOTA) complex was synthesized and purified for bio-tagging to quantify biological target materials using laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. Since the preparation of a pure and stable tagging complex is the key procedure for quantification, magnetic particles were used to purify the synthesized metal-ABDOTA complex. The magnetic particles immobilized with the complex attracted to a permanent magnet, resulting in fast separation from free un-reacted metal ions in solution. Gd ions formed the metal-complex with a higher yield of 64.3% (${\pm}3.9%$ relative standard deviation (RSD)) than Y ions, 52.3% (${\pm}2.5%$ RSD), in the pH range 4-7. The complex bound to the magnetic particles was released by treatment with a strong base, of which the recovery was 81.7%. As a reference, a solid phase extraction (SPE) column packed with Chelex-100 resin was employed for separation under similar conditions and produced comparable results. The tagging technique complemented polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microarray chip sampling in LA-ICP-MS, allowing determination of small sample volumes at high throughputs. For application, immunoglobulin G (IgG) was immobilized on the pillars of PDMS microarray chips and then tagged with the prepared Gd complex. IgG could then be determined through measurement of Gd by LA-ICP-MS. A detection limit of 1.61 ng/mL (${\pm}0.75%$ RSD) for Gd was obtained.