Changes in glycosylation of rat liver arylsulfatase B in relation to age

The aim of this study was to determine how glycosylation of the rat liver a rylsulfatase B was influenced by the age of the animal. The enzyme was puri fied from a liver lysosomal fraction obtained from male Wistar rats aged 18 days of gestation, 1 week, and 1, 1.5, 3 and 18 months by an affinity chro matography. Examination of-the carbohydrate structures was performed after electrophoresis and blotting, followed by a very sensitive detection system with a set of six highly specific digoxygenin-labelled lectins. After dens itometric measurement of the intensity of a digoxigenin-labelled lectin bin ding to arylsulfatase B, it could be stated that, at least, changes in sial ylation are related to the growth and development of rats. Sialylation incr eases while fucosylation slightly decreases with age of the animal. (C) 200 0 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.