[Study on evaluating methods for the quality control of glycoprotein products. (1). Erythropoietin products]

The ability of high performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with pulsed amperometric detection was studied for evaluation of carbohydrate moieties of erythropoietin (EPO) products. The N-linked oligosaccharides were released from EPO by the treatment with N-glycosidase F. HPAEC analysis of oligosaccharide standards revealed that elution time of sialylated oligosaccharides were dependent on the number of sialic acid, which contributed to the activity of EPO. Using HPAEC, N-linked oligosaccharides of two kinds of recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) produced in chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells were compared. The HPAEC profiles of oligosaccharides of these EPO products indicated that there were some differences in the carbohydrate moieties between CHO rh-EPO and BHK rh-EPO. In conclusion, HPAEC method is useful to evaluate the quality of EPO products.