The impact of low adsorption surfaces for the analysis of DNA and RNA oligonucleotides

As interest in oligonucleotide (ON) therapeutics is increasing, there is a need to develop suitable analytical methods able to properly analyze those molecules. However, an issue exists in the adsorption of ONs on different parts of the instrumentation during their analysis. The goal of the present paper was to comprehensively evaluate various types of bioinert materials used in ion-pairing reversed-phase (IP-RPLC) and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) to mitigate this issue for 15- to 100-mer DNA and RNA oligonucleotides. The whole sample flow path was considered under both conditions, including chromatographic columns, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system, and ultraviolet (UV) flow cell. It was found that a negligible amount of non-specific adsorption might be attributable to the chromatographic instrumentation. However, the flow cell of a detector should be carefully subjected to sample-based conditioning, as the material used in the UV flow cell was found to significantly impact the peak shapes of the largest ONs (60- to 100-mer). Most importantly, we found that the choice of column hardware had the most significant impact on the extent of non-specific adsorption. Depending on the material used for the column walls and frits, adsorption can be more or less pronounced. It was proved that any type of bioinert RPLC/HILIC column hardware offered some clear benefits in terms of adsorption in comparison to their stainless-steel counterparts. Finally, the evaluation of a large set of ONs was performed, including a DNA duplex and DNA or RNA ONs having different base composition, furanose sugar, and modifications occurring at the phosphate linkage or at the sugar moiety. This work represents an important advance in understanding the overall ON adsorption, and it helps to define the best combination of materials when analyzing a wide range of unmodified and modified 20-mer DNA and RNA ONs.