Erythropoietin benefits from controlled sugar-coating

Structure of ‘click’ neoglyco-EPO analogue

Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry

Click chemistry allows glycosylation at virtually any synthetic stage

Researchers in New Zealand have developed a method for glycosylating synthetic erythropoietin. The strategy combines ligation and click chemistry to result in a more precise product than current production methods, which see the core protein bear oligosaccharides of varying length.