Analysis of Sugar Sequences in Glycoproteins by Glycosidase Digestion and Gel Filtration

The function of many glycoproteins is directly related to the structure of their oligosaccharide chains (1 –5 ). Subtle changes in oligosaccharide structure involving the linkage of or loss of single monosaccharide units are known to occur in many biological events. Knowledge of this fine structure is necessary if the function of glycoproteins is to be understood.