Properties of amidinated glucagons.

Porcine glucagon has been reacted with a series of alkyl imidates. The epsilon-amino group and both the alpha and epsilon-amino groups were modified and the subsequent glucagon derivatives were purified by ion-exchange chromatography and characterized. The modified glucagons were compared with native glucagon in their ability to activate hepatic adenylate cyclase and to compete with 125I-glucagon for binding to sites specific for glucagon in hepatic plasma membranes. N epsilon-acetamidino-glucagon was as biologically potent, in both activity and binding, as native glucagon, whereas N epsilon-4-hydroxyphenylamidinoglucagon required a twofold higher concentration to obtain similar levels. These findings suggest that modification through the epsilon-amino group with alkyl imidates possessing reporter groups should result in glucagon derivatives with significant biological potency, thus providing a new approach to the study of this peptide hormone. Amidination of both epsilon and alpha-amino groups resulted in glucagon derivatives which were agonists with respect to adenylate cyclase activation and which displayed unexpected anomylous behavior on chromatography.