Chemical modification of erythropoietin: an increase in in vitro activity by guanidination

Human recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) was chemically modified with several group-specific reagents in order to study the role of each kind of amino-acid residue in its biological activity. Guanidination of the amino groups of the lysine residues yielded derivatives that showed higher activities in vitro than native rHuEPO, whereas amidination had no effect on the activity. By contrast, modification of the positive charges of the lysine residues to neutral or negative charges, such as in carbamylation, trinitrophenylation, acetylation or succinylation, caused a significant loss of rHuEPO activity. Chemical modification of other amino-acid residues, such as arginine and tyrosine residues or carboxyl groups, also led to loss of activity.