- Discussion:
- glycosaminoglycans are linear polysaccharides composed of repeating disaccharides units, usually more than 20 per chain;
- glycosaminoglycans attach to a protein core forming a
proteoglycan;
- two major glycosaminoglycans w/ in cartilage ground substance consist of
chondroitin sulfate and
keratan sulfate;
- shared characteristics include:
- straight chains with no branching;
- disaccharide repeating units of glycosamino-glycans are composed of two monosaccharide units;
- one unit is always an hexosamine; (amino group of the hexosamine is N-acetylated);
- second monosaccharide unit consists of the repeating disaccharide is of either hexuronate or galactose;
- misc:
mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of disorders characterized by inability to
degrade glycoaminoglycans;
Characterization of aggregating proteoglycans from the proliferative, maturing, hypertrophic, and calcifying zones of the cartilaginous physis.
Synthesis of chondrocytic keratan sulphate-containing proteoglycans by human chondrosarcoma cells in long-term cell culture.
