A study of the salivary glycoprotein in cystic fibrosis patients and controls: fucose incorporation and protein pattern

The incorporation of fucose to glycoprotein acceptors prepared from the saliva of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients was compared with the incorporation into acceptors from controls. The CF acceptor glycoprotein incorporated significantly more fucose in the presence of either patients' or control plasma. The fucosyl transferase activity in the patients' plasma was not significantly different from controls. Fucosidase activity was similar also for both groups. The protein bands of the acceptor glycoproteins from the patients' saliva differed from those of the control in number and electrophoretic mobility. On the basis of these studies of fucose incorporation we propose that glycoprotein in the salivary secretion of CF patients are qualitatively different from normal.