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Two classes of oligosaccharides were identified in alkaline borohydride digests of monomer proteoglycans from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma. The first class consists of three similar oligomers, each of which is linked to the proteoglycan core proteins by an O-glycosidic bond between N-acetylgalactosamine and hydroxyl groups on serine and threonine. The structures of the two smallest oligosaccharides are: (formula: see text). Proteoglycan monomers from the chondrosarcoma contain about 1.3 of these oligosaccharides for every chondroitin sulfate chain. Their structures and distribution on the core protein suggest that they are related to the linkage region between keratan sulfate chains and the core protein of cartilage proteoglycans. The second class of oligomers consists of oligosaccharide-peptides that contain mannose and are probably linked to the core protein by N-glycosylamine bonds to asparagine. There appear to be about 15 of these oligosaccharides/ proteoglycan molecule, and they are primarily located on the core protein nearer to the hyaluronic acid-binding site than both the oligosaccharides linked by O-glycoside bonds and the chondroitin sulfate chains. Chondrocytes isolated from the chondrosarcoma and grown in culture synthesize both classes of oligosaccharides.
Lohmander et al. (Fri,) studied this question.