Huntington's-chorea fibroblasts. Cellular protein glycosylation

Five cell cultures of Huntington's-chorea fibroblasts exhibit greater than normal protein and lipid glycosylation when labelled with [U-14C]glucosamine. Oligosaccharide--polypeptide chains from all molecular-weight ranges are labelled differentially on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. This difference in protein glycosylation is not accompanied by any apparent difference in general cellular protein synthesis or by a differential rate of glucosamine uptake or decreased degradation of [14C]glycosylated macromolecules. Additionally [U-14C]glucosamine exclusively labels hexosamines and sialic acid of cellular macromolecules.