N-linked oligosaccharides of vomeromodulin, a putative pheromone transporter in rat

Vomeromodulin, a putative pheromone transporter of the rat vomeronasal orga n, was isolated by lectin chromatography, purified, and subjected to a mass spectrometric (MS) system of glycan structural determination. Through a co mbination of exoglycosidase treatments and measurements by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization MS, the N-glycans of vomeromodulin were identif ied as mainly sialylated and fucosylated biantennary structures. The microh eterogeneity of N-glycan structures was also due to the presence of galacto se residues with different types of linkages. (C) 1999 Academic Press.