Glycosaminoglycan

Glycosaminoglycans[1] (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides[2] are long, linear polysaccharides consisting of repeating disaccharide units (i.e. two-sugar units). The repeating two-sugar unit consists of a uronic sugar and an amino sugar, except in the case of the sulfated glycosaminoglycan keratan, where, in place of the uronic sugar there is a galactose unit.[3] GAGs are found in vertebrates, invertebrates and bacteria.[4] Because GAGs are highly polar molecules and attract water; the body uses them as lubricants or shock absorbers.

Mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of metabolic disorders in which abnormal accumulations of glycosaminoglycans occur due to enzyme deficiencies.

  1. ^ "glycosaminoglycan" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  2. ^ "mucopolysaccharide" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  3. ^ Esko, Jeffrey D; Kimata, Koji; Lindahl, Ulf (2009). "Chapter 16: Proteoglycans and Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans". Essentials of Glycobiology. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 978-0879695590.
  4. ^ DeAngelis, Paul L. (2002-11-01). "Evolution of glycosaminoglycans and their glycosyltransferases: Implications for the extracellular matrices of animals and the capsules of pathogenic bacteria". The Anatomical Record. 268 (3): 317–326. doi:10.1002/ar.10163. ISSN 0003-276X. PMID 12382327. S2CID 38827411.
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