Abstract

This chapter describes the structure and properties of gastric mucus. Much of the structure of gastric mucus is composed of sugar chains, which form a sheath of polysaccharide around a central protein core and to which they are attached covalently. Each polysaccharide chain consists of the following monosaccharides: N -acetylglucosamine, N -acetylgalactosamine, fucose, galactose, and small amounts of sialic acid. In pig gastric mucus, where the structure of these chains has been elucidated, the chains are branched and can be up to 19 sugars in length. The structure of the carbohydrate chains in the human gastric mucus glycoprotein is similar. One characteristic of these chains is that they have the same terminal sequence of monosaccharides as the ABO blood group glycolipids on the surface of the erythrocyte. This confers on the mucus glycoprotein blood group substance activity, and it will inhibit agglutination of the red blood cells by the appropriate antibody. In humans, about 80% of the population are secretors of mucus glycoproteins with the ABO antigens, in pig the glycoprotein antigens are A & O.

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