Carbohydrate composition of the second, third and fifth components and factors B and D of human complement

The carbohydrate composition of the second, third and fifth components of human complement (C2, C3 and C5) and of factors B and D was determined employing gas-chromatographic and mass-spectrometric methods. C2 was found to contain 15.9% carbohydrate composed of fucose, galactose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylneuraminate (approximate molar ratio 1:4:9:9:4). N-acetylglucosamine and mannose (approximate molar ratio 1:4), amounting to 1.7% of the mass of the molecule, were the only monosaccharides detected in C3. C5 contained 3.8% carbohydrate composed of galactose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylneuraminate (approximate molar ratio 2:4:4-5:2). The carbohydrate moiety of B consisted of fucose, galactose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylneuraminate (molar ratio 1:2:3:4:2). The total carbohydrate content of B was estimated at 8.6%. In addition to these monosaccharides, glucose (0.4-0.9%) was also detected in all preparations analysed. Glucose was the only sugar detected in D.