Fluorescent molecularly imprinted nanogels for the detection of anticancer drugs in human plasma

Several fluorescent molecularly imprinted nanogels for the detection of the anticancer drug sunitinib were synthesized and characterised. A selection of functional monomers based on different aminoacids and coumarin allowed isolation of polymers with very good rebinding properties and sensitivities. The direct detection of sunitinib in human plasma was successfully demonstrated by fluorescence quenching of the coumarin-based nanogels. The plasma sample simply diluted in DMSO allowed the recovery of various amounts of sunitib, as determined by an averaged calibration curve. The LOD was 400 nM, with within-run variability < 9%, day to day variability < 5%, and good accuracy in the recovery of sunitinib from spiked samples.