Biochemistry Online: An Approach Based on Chemical Logic

CHAPTER 3 - CARBOHYDRATES/GLYCANS

B: More Complex Carbohydrates

03/15/16

Learning Goals/Objectives for Chapter 3B: After class and this reading, students will be able to

state the differences between the homopolysaccharides glycogen, starch cellulose, and chitin and those with dissacharide repeat units (glycosoaminoglycans)
draw cartoon models of complex oligosaccharides such as peptidoglycans of bacterial cell walls, N and O linked glycoproteins, and proteoglycans showing the linkage of protein and CHO
describe the role of protein and cell surface CHO in binding and biological function
given diagrams of leukocyte and endothelial cells interactions, describe the role of selectins, selectin ligands, integrins and cellular adhesion molecules in immune cell/blood vessel interactions.

This chapter on complex carbohydrates (glycans/glycoconjugates) will review those features that are deemed especially important for a one semester course dealing with structure and function of biomolecules.

B4. O-linked Glycoproteins

The CHOs are usually attached from a Gal (b 1-3) GalNAc to a Ser or Thr of a protein.

Figure: O-linked Glycoproteins

O linked glycoprotein

The blood group antigens (CHOs on cells attached to either proteins or lipids) are examples . The sugars shown as chairs in the figure below are the blood group antigens (in contrast to structures found in many texts). They are attached to a core heterosaccharide (shown as red elipse below) which is connected to either a membrane glycoprotein or glycolipid.

Figure: Blood Group Antigens

Blood Group Antigens

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