Advertisement
Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI106115
1National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014
Find articles by Grollman, E. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
1National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014
Find articles by Kobata, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
1National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014
Find articles by Ginsburg, V. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
Published August 1, 1969 - More info
Milk from women with blood type Le(a+) or Le(b+) contains a specific fucosyltransferase not found in the milk of women with blood type Le(a- b-). The enzyme, a guanosine diphosphate L-fucose: N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminylsaccharide α-4-L-fucosyltransferase is apparently required for the synthesis of the structural determinants of Lea and Leb specificity, both of which contain fucose in an α-1,4 linkage to N-acetylglucosamine. The same enzyme is also involved in the synthesis of milk oligosaccharides, as two oligosaccharides which contain this linkage are absent from the milk of women with Le(a- b-) blood type.