Chemical studies on a hamster sublingual glycoprotein.

A secretory glycoprotein was isolated from the hamster sublingual gland. It contains 65% carbohydrates, the remainder being protein. The principal type of sialic acid was identified as N-acetylneuraminic acid with about 1/4 of the molecules O-acetylated. The hexosamine occurs mainly as N-acetylgalactosamine; other sugars present are galactose and fucose. The carbohydrate side chains are linked to the protein core by an O-glycosyl linkage between seryl and threonyl residues and N-acetylgalactosamine. The glycoprotein has an apparent molecular weight of 330,000. The sialogly coprotein may act as a biological antifreeze. Relevant differences in the chemical composition of the secretory glycoproteins of the sublingual and submaxillary salivary glands of this species are briefly discussed.