KDN-containing glycoprotein from loach skin mucus.

It has been widely recognized that the mucus coat of fish plays a variety of important physical, chemical, and physiological functions. One of the major constituents of the mucus coat is mucus glycoprotein. We found that sialic acids in the skin mucus of the loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, consisted predominantly of KDN. Subsequently, we isolated KDN-containing glycoprotein from loach skin mucus and characterized its chemical nature and structure.