O-glycosidic carbohydrate-peptide linkages of Herpes simplex virus glycoproteins

Electrophoretically purified HSV-specified glycoproteins with radiolabelled carbohydrates were subjected to mild alkaline borohydride treatment (0.5 M NaOH and 0.5 M NaBH4). The treatment liberated significant amounts of the labelled oligosaccharides. The latter demonstrated molecular weights of about 3,000 as determined by gel filtration. The glycoproteins involved probably belong to the gA/gB complex or gC. The results suggest that HSV specified glycoproteins contain oligosaccharides linked with an O-glycosidic bond to a threonine or serine residue of the polypeptide.