A novel type of Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant defective in oligosaccharide-lipid synthesis

A novel type of Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant has been isolated with a constitutive defect in the synthesis of lipid-linked oligosaccharides. This mutant, designated AS15-1, incorporates 30-fold less glucosamine into an oligosaccharide-lipid fraction than the wild type. A gel filtration analysis has shown that a small amount of oligosaccharide-lipid corresponding to Man₅GlcNAc₂-lipid is formed in the mutant. This mutant shows temperature sensitivity for both growth and adhesion to substratum, and constitutively secretes several unusual proteins in large amounts.