Spectrophotometric and gas-liquid chromatographic analyses on the carbohydrate
moiety of tryptic erythrocyte glycopeptides from persons with Tn-syndrome reveal
a selective lowering of the galactose and sialic acid content, the degree being dependent
on the percentage of polyagglutinable cells. Alkaline borohydride specifically releases N-acetylgalactosaminitol,
and the amount is correlated to the percentage of pathological
erythrocytes. It is concluded that the alkali-labile carbohydrate chains of Tn-polyagglutinable
red cells solely consist of TV-acetylgalactosamine linked to serine or threonine. Experiments
with heterophile agglutinins whose specificity is known are in line with the above-mentioned
results. As judged from SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the three major
membrane glycoproteins are affected to a different extent by the defect.
Direct evidence for the theory that Tn-polyagglutinable erythrocytes have
a deficiency of alkali-labile sialic acid and galactose is gained by analysing the carbohydrate
moiety of the tryptic glycopeptides with spectrophotometric methods and gasliquid
chromatography. Alkaline borohydride treatment of these glycopeptides specifically
releases N-acetylgalactosaminitoI. In addition it is shown that mainly the third and the
first membrane glycoprotein are affected by the defect.
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