Carbohydrate structure of a thrombin-like serine protease from Agkistrodon rhodostoma. Structure elucidation of oligosaccharides by methylation analysis, liquid secondary-ion mass spectrometry and proton magnetic resonance.

The carbohydrate side chains of the thrombin-like serine protease ancrod from the venom of the Malayan pit viper Agkistrodon rhodostoma were liberated from tryptic glycopeptides by treatment with peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl)asparagine amidase F and fractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Glycans obtained were characterized by digestion with exoglycosidases, methylation analysis and, in part, by liquid secondary-ion mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The results reveal that this snake venom glycoprotein contains partially truncated di-, tri- and tetraantennary complex type N-glycans carrying Fuc(alpha 1-6) residues at the innermost N-acetylglucosamine and solely (alpha 2-3)-linked sialic acid substituents. As a characteristic feature, ancrod oligosaccharides comprise mainly sialylated Gal beta 3GlcNAc beta lactosamine antennae. Furthermore, a small proportion of the sugar chains were found to carry a NeuAc alpha 3GalNAc beta 4GlcNAc beta antenna exclusively linked to C-2 of Man(alpha 1-3) residues of the pentasaccharide core. Thus, many of the glycans found represent novel glycoprotein-N-glycan structures.