Ch. 13 Flashcards
What are glycans?
Synonym for carbohydrate
- Class of molecules with the formula (CH2O)n where n is greater than 2
What is glycobiology?
Study of the biological functions of glycans
What are the 3 major groups of carbohydrates?
- Simple sugars
- Polysaccharides
- Glycoconjugates
What are simple sugars?
Monosaccharides, disaccharides, and oligosaccharides
What do simple sugars often function as?
Metabolic intermediates in energy conversion pathways
What are polysaccharides?
Glucose homopolymers or disaccharide heteropolymers
- 1 of the 2 sugars is a hexosamine
What are glycoconjugates?
Protein or lipid with covalently linked glycans
- Role in cellular communication
What do glycoconjugates have a role in?
Cellular communication
What are glycotransferases?
Enzymes that catalyze the ADDITION of glycan units to proteins and lipids to form glycoconjugates
What are glycosidases?
Enzymes that catalyze that REMOVAL of glycan units from glycoconjugates
What are 4 the glycobiology principles?
Glycan…
1. Biochemistry
2. Biosynthesis
3. Diversity
4. Recognition
What is a glycosidic bond?
Bond that joins a carbohydrate to another molecule
What is an anomeric carbon?
The carbonyl carbon in the acyclic form of a carbohydrate
What are oligosaccharides?
Simple sugars that range from 3 to 20 branched and unbranched sugar residues
What examples of oligosaccharides?
- Lacto-N-tetraose
- Stachyose
- Raffinose
How do we know that related oligosaccharides are derived from the same disaccharide?
Because of the biochemical characterization of oligosaccharides in human breast milk and the raffinose series of plant oligosaccharides
What is the common disaccharide of human breast milk oligosaccharides?
Lactose
What is the common disaccharide of raffinose-related oligosaccharides?
Sucrose
What happens when some people eat foods high in raffinose-type oligosaccharides?
Can lead to GI discomfort because humans don’t have the enzyme (α-galactosidase) that breaks it down
How do polysaccharides differ from each other?
- ID of recurring monosaccharide units
- Length of chain
- Degree of branching
- Type of bonds linking the units
What are homopolysaccharides?
Made of 1 type of monosaccharide
What are heteropolysaccharides?
Made of more than 1 type of monosaccharide
What are the storage forms of glucose?
Starch and glycogen
What does starch contain?
Amylose, amylopectin, and other polysaccharides