Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Oct;19(10):1623-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.06.002. Epub 2014 Jun 11.

Pharmacokinetics, metabolism and distribution of PEGs and PEGylated proteins: quo vadis?

Andreas Baumann  1 , Dietrich Tuerck  2 , Saileta Prabhu  3 , Leslie Dickmann  3 , Jennifer Sims  4
Affiliations
Review

Pharmacokinetics, metabolism and distribution of PEGs and PEGylated proteins: quo vadis?

Andreas Baumann et al. Drug Discov Today. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

The pharmacokinetics (PK), metabolism and biodistribution of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in PEGylated proteins are important to understand the increased cellular vacuolation reported in various tissues in animals. The tissue distribution profile of PEGylated proteins and 'metabolic' PEG is guided largely by absolute PEG load, PEG molecular weight and, where applicable, receptor-mediated uptake via the protein moiety. High molecular weight PEGs show slow renal clearance, and consequently have a greater potential to accumulate within cells. The intracellular nonbiodegradable PEG can accumulate within the lysosome ultimately causing distension and vacuolation observed by standard histological examinations. Improved bioanalytical methodologies will contribute to the identification of specific PK parameters including distribution behavior to support development of PEGylated proteins as therapeutics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources