Molecular Biochemistry I

Carbohydrates - Sugars and Polysaccharides

Reading:

Textbook Reading: Biochemistry, 3rd Edition, by Voet & Voet, Chapter 11. 

Some recent articles (optional reading): 

A. K. Powell, E. A. Yates, D. G. Fernig & J. E. Turnbull (2004) "Interactions of heparin/heparan sulfate with proteins: Appraisal of structural factors and experimental approaches," Glycobiol. 14: 17R-30R.
V. K. Ganesh, S. A. Smith, G. J. Kotwal & K. H. M. Murthy (2004) "Structure of vaccinia complement protein in complex with heparin and potential implications for complement regulation," PNAS 101: 8924-8929.
D. R. Coombe & W. C. Kett (2005) "Heparan sulfate-protein interactions: therapeutic potential through structure-function insights," Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 62: 410-424.
J. B. Lowe & J. D. Marth (2003) "A genetic approach to mammalian glycan function," Ann. Rev. Biochem. 72: 643-691.
D. C. Kilpatrick (2003) "Introduction to mannan-binding lectin," Biochem. Soc. Trans. 31: 745-747.
L. Wells & G. W. Hart (2003) "O-GlcNAc turns twenty: functional implications for post-translational modification of nuclear and cytosolic proteins with a sugar," FEBS Lett. 546: 154-158.
N. Sharon & H. Lis (2004) "History of lectins: from hemagglutinins to biological recognition molecules," Glycobiol. 14: 53R - 62R.
A. Ivetic & A. J. Ridley (2004) "The telling tail of L-selectin," Biochem. Soc. Trans. 32: 1118-1121.
A. N. Zelensky & J. E. Gready (2005) "The C-type lectin-like domain superfamily," FEBS J. 272: 6179-6217.
T. M. Handel, Z. Johnson, S. E. Crown, E. K. Lau, M. Sweeney & A. E. Proudfoot (2005) "Regulation of protein function by glycosaminoglycans - As exemplified by chemokines," Annu. Rev. Biochem. 74: 385-410.
I. M. Saxena & R. M. Brown (2005) "Cellulose biosynthesis: current views and evolving concepts," Annals of Botany 96: 9-21.
N. Mitra, S. Sinha, T. N. C. Ramya & A. Surolia (2006) "N-linked oligosaccharides as outfitters for glycoprotein folding, form and function," TRENDS in Biochem. Sci. 31: 156-163.
K. R. Taylor & R. L. Gallo (2006) "Glycosaminoglycans and their proteoglycans: host-associated molecular patterns for initiation and modulation of inflammation," FASEB J. 20: 2-22.
W. C. Lamanna, I. Kalus, M. Padva, R. J. Baldwin, C. L. R. Merry & T. Dierks (2007) "The heparanome - The enigma of encoding and decoding heparan sulfate sulfation," J. Biotech. 129: 290-307.
K. T. Pilobello & L. K. Mahal (2007) "Deciphering the glycocode: the complexity and analytical challenge of glycomics," Current Opinion in Chem. Biol. 11: 300-305.
C. A. Kirkpatrick & S. B. Selleck (2007) "Heparan sulfate proteoglycans at a glance," J. Cell Science 120: 1829-1832.

Potential Test Questions:

1. You may be asked to describe one or more of the following, providing requested diagrams (to be selected by the instructor). Where two items are listed, explain the difference between these.

• D versus L sugars (draw an example of D & L isomers of a sugar)
• aldose versus ketose (draw an example of each)
• a and b anomers of D-glucose (draw Haworth projection structures of both)
• glucose versus acetylglucosamine (draw Haworth projection structures of both)
• glycosidic bond (draw an example of substrates and products of a reaction to form a glycosidic bond)

2. Describe and compare the structures of cellulose and amylopectin. Include a diagram showing enough of the structure to depict the different glycosidic linkages between glucose monomers in each polymer. What is the general function of each of these polymers? How are their polymeric structures suited to their cellular functions? How does glycogen structure differ from amylopectin? How is this important to the role of glycogen.

Copyright © 1998-2008 by Joyce J. Diwan. All rights reserved.

Lecture notes on Carbohydrates

Interactive Quiz on     Carbohydrates