BIOC 405 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Glycosylation, Oligosaccharide, Cell Adhesion
Document Summary
A very common type of modification of side chains on the protein surface. Attaching a polysaccharide chain to an amino acid residue of a protein. In eukaryotic organisms almost all secreted and membrane-associated proteins are glycosylated. Protein glycosylation is important for many functions, such as cell-cell recognition; in some cases, it helps the stability of proteins. One of these functions is forming the extracellular matrix in higher organisms. The ecm is the mixture of proteins and oligosaccharides between cells. The ecm is key to positioning cells properly with respect to each other and cell adhesion. The ecm is crucial in very complex processes like developmental biology and wound healing. O-glycosylation: the oligosaccharide is attached to side chain o of a. N-glycosylation: the oligosaccharide is attached to side chain n of an. You begin by connecting a large 14 residue oligosaccharide to a polypeptide.
