Collagen glycopeptides from the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus.

Structures of several hydroxylysine-containing glycopeptides derived from the body wall of the sea cucumber have been determined. The glycosylated hydroxylysines were all the Y positions of Gly-X-Y triplets. They are thought to be distributed throughout the peptide chain, in contrast to vertebrate skin collagens. One glycopeptide demonstrated the existence of the sequence Gly-Gly-Hyp in invertebrates for the first time.