Primary structure of neutral oligosaccharides derived from respiratory-mucus glycoproteins of a patient suffering from bronchiectasis, determined by combination of 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy and quantitative sugar analysis. 1. Structure of 16 oligosaccharides having the Gal beta(1----3)GalNAc-ol core (type 1) or the Gal beta(1----3)[GlcNAc beta(1----6)]GalNac-ol core (type 2).

Carbohydrate chains of respiratory-mucus glycopeptides from a patient (blood group O) suffering from bronchiectasis with a Kartagener's syndrome have been released by alkaline borohydride treatment. Application of high-performance liquid chromatography using subsequently two silica columns, one bonded with aminopropyl groups and the other with octadecyl groups, afforded 39 neutral fractions; 35 oligosaccharide-alditol structures have been characterized by employing 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with sugar analysis. Here, 16 oligosaccharide structures, possessing a core consisting of Gal beta(1----3)GalNAc-ol branching through a GlcNAc residue linked beta(1----6) to the GalNAc residue (core type 2 or core type 1, respectively), are described. Ten oligosaccharide-alditols with these types of cores (2, 3, 10a, 14, 7, 11a, 15a, 16a, 12 and 16c) have been identified previously in human bronchial mucins of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis [Lamblin, G., Boersma, A., Lhermitte, M., Roussel, P., Mutsaers, J.H.G.M., Van Halbeek, H. and Vliegenthart, J.F.G. (1984) Eur. J. Biochem. 143, 227-236]. Of the remaining six compounds, one is a partial structure of oligosaccharides previously described: (Formula: see text). The structures 17a and 20 contain the Y determinant, i.e., Fuc alpha(1----2)Gal beta(1----4)[Fuc alpha(1----3)]GlcNAc beta(1----). High-resolution 1H-NMR spectroscopy is able to distinguish whether the Y determinant is beta(1----3) or beta(1----6) linked in such oligosaccharide-alditols.