Lysosomal enzymes require a mannose 6-phosphate recognition marker, constructed on asparagine-linked oligosaccharide chains, for targeting to lysosomes. We have identified the glycosylation sites of human beta-hexosaminidase B and have determined the influence of individual oligosaccharides on the phosphorylation, lysosomal targeting, and catalytic activity of the enzyme. The five potential gly...

Introduction Fructo-oligosaccharides consist of several fructosyl residues linked to a terminal glucose moiety. They occur naturally in many plant species, such as onion, edible burdock, asparagus, wheat and so on. These fructo-oligosaccharides are commercially produced from sucrose by the transfructosylation reaction of an enzyme or from inulin by enzymatic hydrolysis. This paper reviews the b...

Derivatives of chitin oligosaccharides have been shown to play a role in plant organogenesis at nanomolar concentrations. Here we present data which indicate that chitin oligosaccharides are important for embryogenesis in vertebrates. We characterize chitin oligosaccharides synthesized in vitro by zebrafish and carp embryos in the late gastrulation stage by incorporation of radiolabeled N-acety...

Human milk is a complex biological fluid that provides not only primary nourishment for infants but also protection against pathogens and influences their metabolic, immunologic, and even cognitive development. The presence of oligosaccharides in remarkable abundance in human milk has been associated to provide diverse biological functions including directing the development of an infant's inte...

It is not yet known whether dephosphorylation of proteins catalyzed by phosphatases occurs in the apoplastic space. In this study, we found that tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) purple acid phosphatase could dephosphorylate the phosphoryl residues of three apoplastic proteins, two of which were identified as alpha-xylosidase and beta-glucosidase. The dephosphorylation and phosphorylation of recombin...

Deficiency of dolichyl-P-Glc:Man9GlcNAc2-PP-dolichyl glucosyltransferase is the cause of an additional type of carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome (CDGS type V). Clinically this type resembles the classical type Ia of CDGS caused by the deficiency of phosphomannomutase. As a result of the glucosyltransferase deficiency in CDGS type V nonglucosylated lipid-linked oligosaccharides accumu...

The structure of carbohydrate chains of dog gastric mucus glycoprotein bearing Forssman antigenic determinant was investigated. The reduced oligosaccharides obtained by alkaline borohydride reductive cleavage of the glycoprotein were chromatographed on a immunoaffinity column containing monoclonal anti-Forssman antibody coupled to cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose 4B. The bound oligosacchari...

Neutral oligosaccharides were released by alkaline sodium borohydride reduction of the jelly coating from the South African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis. The oligosaccharides were isolated by HPLC and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)-Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS). The mass spectrometry analysis allowed confirmation of 12 structures first proposed by St...