The protein-polysaccharide complex of bovine nasal cartilage. Studies on the protein core.

1. Chondromucoprotein from bovine nasal cartilage was purified by cetylpyridinium chloride or by bismuth nitrate in acetone. 2. Amino acid compositions of crude and purified preparations were compared and few differences were found, in spite of the decrease in protein content on purification. 3. Amino acid analysis of bismuth-purified material revealed the existence of four groups of amino acids. Within each group, the amino acids were present in approximately equimolar concentrations. 4. Amino end-group assay on the same material showed six alpha-DNP derivatives. 5. A molecular weight of 6.3x10(5) for the protein-polysaccharide complex was calculated from the latter analysis.