General term for a protein-polysaccharide complex, usually implying that the protein component is the major part of the complex, in contradistinction to mucopolysaccharide; mucoproteins include the α1- and α2-globulins of serum (and others). Sometimes called glycoproteins, although this term usually refers to those mucoproteins containing less than 4% carbohydrate.
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mu·co·pro·tein .myü-kə-'prō-.tēn, -'prōt-ē-ən n any of a group of various complex conjugated proteins (as mucins) that contain glycosaminoglycans (as chondroitin sulfate or mucoitinsulfuric acid) combined with amino acid units or polypeptides and that occur in body fluids and tissues called also mucoid compare GLYCOPROTEIN
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n.
one of a group of proteins found in the globulin fraction of blood plasma. Mucoproteins are globulins combined with a carbohydrate group (an amino sugar). They are similar to glycoprotein but contain a greater proportion of carbohydrate.
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mu·co·pro·tein (mu″ko-proґtēn) a covalently linked conjugate of protein and polysaccharide, the latter containing many hexosamine residues and constituting approximately 4 to 30 per cent of the weight of the compound; mucoproteins occur mainly in mucous secretions. Cf. glycoprotein.Medical dictionary. 2011.