Sugar coating extends half-lives and improves effectiveness of cytokine hormones.
Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) is an effective and widely used therapeutic agent that is produced by bioengineering. Modification of the rhEPO protein by glycoengineering increased its already abundant N-glycosylation, which enhances its erythropoietic activity in vivo by decreasing its metabolic clearance. Elliott et al. recently reported increased in vivo activities of thrombopoietin (Mpl ligand) and leptin following carbohydrate addition to both, which suggests that such glycoengineering could be applied to a variety of hormones, cytokines and growth factors.
Vanderbilt University and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 777 Preston Research Building, 2220 Pierce Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232-6307, USA. mark.koury@vanderbilt.edu
Mark J
MJ
Koury
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D000068256:Darbepoetin alfa; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006031:Glycosylation; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D015202:Protein Engineering; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013608:Tablets, Enteric-Coated; D013926:Thrombopoietin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
D020738:Leptin; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013608:Tablets, Enteric-Coated; D004921:Erythropoietin; D000068256:Darbepoetin alfa; D013926:Thrombopoietin