HLM-beads: Rapid Assessment of Nonspecific Binding to Human Liver Microsomes Using Magnetizable Beads

In early drug development, drug-drug interaction risk is routinely assessed using human liver microsomes (HLMs). Nonspecific binding of drugs to HLMs can affect the determination of accurate enzyme parameters (K_m, K_i, K_I). Previously, we described a novel in vitro model consisting of HLMs bound to magnetizable beads [HLM-magnetizable-beads system (HLM-beads)]. The HLM-beads enable rapid separation of HLMs from incubation media by applying a magnetic field. Here, HLM-beads were further characterized and evaluated as a tool to assess HLM nonspecific binding of small molecules. The free fractions (f_u,mic) of 13 compounds (chosen based on their pKa values) were determined using HLM-beads under three HLM concentrations (0.025, 0.50, and 1.0 mg/ml) and compared with those determined by equilibrium dialysis. Most f_u,mic values obtained using HLM-beads were within 0.5- to 2-fold of the values determined using equilibrium dialysis. The highest fold difference were observed for high binders itraconazole and BIRT2584 (1.9- to 2.9-fold), as the pronounced adsorption of these compounds to the equilibrium dialysis apparatus interfered with their f_u,mic determination. Correlation and linear regression analysis of the f_u,mic values generated using HLM-beads and equilibrium dialysis was conducted. Overall, a good correlation of f_u,mic values obtained by the two methods were observed, as the r and R² values from correlational analysis and linear regression analysis were >0.9 and >0.89, respectively. These studies demonstrate that HLM-beads can produce comparable f_u,mic values as determined by equilibrium dialysis while reducing the time required for this type of study from hours to only 10 minutes and compound apparatus adsorption. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This work introduces a new method of rapidly assessing nonspecific microsomal binding using human liver microsomes bound to magnetizable beads.