Phenyl Amide Linker Improves the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of N-Terminally Mono-PEGylated Human Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone (hGH) suffers from a short plasma half-life of ∼15 min, necessitating frequent injections to maintain its physiological effect. PEGylation, conjugation of polyethylene glycol (PEG), is an effective strategy to prolong the plasma half-life of hGH. However, PEGylation can significantly decrease the bioactivity of hGH. Thus, a new PEGylation approach is desired to improve the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of the PEGylated hGH. In the present study, two N-terminally mono-PEGylated hGHs were prepared using aldehyde chemistry. Phenyl amide and ethyl moieties were used as the linkers between PEG and hGH, respectively. The hydrodynamic volume, proteolytic sensitivity, and immunogenicity of the PEGylated hGH with phenyl amide linker (hGH-phenyl-PEG) were lower than those of the one with propyl linker (hGH-prop-PEG). In addition, hGH-phenyl-PEG showed a higher in vitro bioactivity and better PK and PD than hGH-prop-PEG. The better PK of hGH-phenyl-PEG was mainly due to its lower proteolytic sensitivity and low immunogenicity. The better PD of hGH-phenyl-PEG was mainly due to its higher in vitro bioactivity. Thus, the phenyl amide linker can improve the overall pharmacological profiles of the PEGylated hGH. Our study is expected to advance the development of long-acting protein biotherapeutics with high therapeutic efficacy.