Enzymic determination of acidic glycoconjugates in human pancreatic juice

Acidic glycoconjugates (glycosaminoglycans, sulfated glycopeptide, and sialoglycopeptide) were isolated by precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride from human pancreatic juice after digestion with pronase. The acidic glycoconjugates were found exclusively in the proteinaceous precipitate that occurred during dialysis against a buffer of low ionic strength. The concentration of the acidic glycoconjugates in normal pancreatic juice was about 2.4 mg/L. The acidic glycoconjugates were characterized by electrophoresis on cellulose acetate membrane and chemical analysis before and after digestion with Streptomyces hyaluronidase, chondroitinase AC, chondroitinase ABC, and heparitinase. It was found that the major acidic glycoconjugates were heparan sulfate (39.3%), sulfated glycopeptide (34.4%), chondroitin sulfate (14.2%), and the minor ones hyaluronic acid (6.4%) and sialoglycopeptide (5.7%).