Nature of the carbohydrate side chains and their linkage to the protein in chicken egg white ovomucin. III. Structure of the sulfated oligosaccharide chain of ovomucin.

The structure of sulfated oligosaccharide II, one of the main sulfated oligosaccharide chains of ovomucin, has been determined. This oligosaccharide was found to compose of each 1 mole of N-acetylgalactosaminitol, galactose, N-acetylneuraminic acid and sulfate. The sequential periodate oxidation, borohydride reduction and acid hydrolysis of N-acetylneuraminic acid-free oligosaccharide resulted in the formation of glycerol and N-acetylthreosaminitol. From these results, the following structure was proposed for sulfated oligosaccharide II: N-acetylneuraminyl-(2→3)-galactosyl-(1→3)-N-acetylgalactosaminitol-6-sulfate.