A high-throughput quality control method for assessing the serial dilution performance of dose–response plates with acoustic ejection mass spectrometry

This study aimed to develop a streamlined method for evaluating the dilution ratio of drug dose–response plates created by automated liquid handlers in the early stages of drug discovery. The quantitative techniques commonly used for this purpose have restrictions due to their limited linear dynamic range and inaccuracies in assessing serial dilution performance. To address this challenge, we describe a method based on acoustic ejection mass spectrometry (AEMS). The method involves using standard compounds and an internal standard to evaluate each dilution point in quality control (QC) plates. The samples are transferred to a chromatography-free tandem mass spectrometry system through an acoustic source, enabling the analysis of one sample per three seconds from a microtiter plate. This approach provides precise, accurate, label-free, and rapid data acquisition to support high-throughput screening efforts.