HCG and Hyperglycosylated HCG Carbohydrate Structure Corrected

The O-linked and N-linked oligosaccharide structures of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has been studied very thoroughly by multiple groups. It has been studied by glycosidase digestion methods, by gel filtration oligosaccharide separation, by Dionex oligosaccharide-specific HPLC, and by mass spectrometry methods. All oligosaccharide structures found on hCG and hyperglycosylated hCG by these investigators(NM, NNF and NNF biantennary N-linked structures, NNM, NNN, NNNF triantennary N-linked structures, Bi, Tetra1, Tri1 and Tri2 Type 1 O-linked oligosaccharides, and Tetra2, Hexa, Penta1 and Penta 2 Type 2 O-linked oligosaccharides).

The problem is that none of these reports show the separate carbohydrate structure of the hormone hCG. All reports show structure of ainvariable mixture of the hormone hCG and a completely independent molecule, the autocrine hyperglycosylated hCG. Yes, it is only in recent years, after most of these carbohydrate structure projects were completed, that the presence of two separate molecules in pregnancy, a hormone and an autocrine, has been demonstrated.