[Glycoproteins from Drosophila melanogaster cell culture contains O-bound carbohydrate chains of the Gal(beta1-3)GalNAc type].

The glycoprotein from cultured cells of D. melanogaster, also detected in various insect tissues as a component of the extracellular matrix, was characterized as a mucin-type glycoprotein not yet described in invertebrates. This glycoprotein with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 90 kDa contains about 40% of carbohydrates, largely represented mainly by GalNAc and Gal; its polypeptide moiety is enriched with Thr, Ser, Pro and Gly. An analysis of oligosaccharides liberated by treatment of the glycoprotein with alkaline NaBH4 or O-glycanase (endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) revealed Gal(beta 1-3)GalNAc as the major type of the sugar chains. About half of the Thr + Ser residues in the glycoprotein were estimated as O-glycosidically linked with the disaccharide units.