Comparative study of the primary structures of sero-, lacto- and ovotransferrin glycans from different species

In order to establish relationships between glycan structure and biological activity and to answer the question: Are glycans markers of evolution?, the authors undertook a comparative study of the glycan primary structures of different transferrins (sero-, lacto- and ovotransferrins) from several species. By associating permethylation-mass spectrometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy, the primary structure of the following transferrin glycans were determined: human, bovine, hen, horse, marsupial, mouse, rabbit, rat and sheep serotransferrins; human, mouse, bovine and goat lactotransferrins; hen and turkey ovotransferrins. The results obtained led to the conclusion that transferrin glycans are specific for each transferrin and, for a given transferrin, specific to the species. No relationship could be established a priori between primary structure and function of transferrin glycans.