Overview of Glycosaminoglycans

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Chapter: Biochemistry : Glycosaminoglycans, Proteoglycans, and Glycoproteins

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are large complexes of negatively charged heteropolysaccharide chains. They are generally associated with a small amount of protein (“core protein”), forming proteoglycans, which typically consist of up to 95% carbohydrate.


OVERVIEW OF GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are large complexes of negatively charged heteropolysaccharide chains. They are generally associated with a small amount of protein (“core protein”), forming proteoglycans, which typically consist of up to 95% carbohydrate. [Note: This is in comparison to the glycoproteins, which consist primarily of protein with a variable (but typically small) amount of carbohydrate.] GAGs have the special ability to bind large amounts of water, thereby producing the gel-like matrix that forms the basis of the body’s ground substance, which, along with fibrous structural proteins such as collagen, elastin, and fibrillin-1, and adhesive proteins such as fibronectin, make up the extracellular matrix (ECM). The hydrated GAGs serve as a flexible support for the ECM, interacting with the structural and adhesive proteins, and as a molecular sieve, influencing movement of materials through the ECM. The viscous, lubricating properties of mucous secretions also result from the presence of GAGs, which led to the original naming of these compounds as mucopolysaccharides.


Figure 14.1 Repeating disaccharide unit.

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