Carbohydrates (take 2)

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to carbohydrates and glycoproteins for exam preparation.

Carbohydrates

Most abundant class of molecules, serving various roles such as energy sources and structural components.

Monosaccharides

Simple sugars that are the building blocks of carbohydrates, smallest unit being triose.

Disaccharides

Carbohydrates formed by the covalent bonding of two monosaccharides.

Polysaccharides

Large molecules composed of multiple monosaccharide units, can be branched or unbranched.

Reducing sugars

Sugars that can act as reducing agents due to their free aldehyde or ketone groups.

Glycosidic bond

The bond formed between two monosaccharides during condensation, linking their sugar units.

Glycoconjugates

Biomolecules modified by the covalent attachment of glycans.

Glycobiology

Study of the biological functions and roles of glycans in various physiological processes.

Anomers

Stereoisomers that differ at the anomeric carbon, affecting their biological activity.

Haworth projections

A way to represent the cyclic structure of sugars in a two-dimensional format.

Galactose

A common monosaccharide, an epimer of glucose, often found in lactose.

Glucose

A key energy source in living organisms, a simple sugar present in many carbohydrates.

Fructose

A ketose sugar found in many plants, often associated with sucrose.

Ribose

A pentose sugar that is a constituent of RNA.

Sialic acid

Acidic sugars involved in cell signaling and found on cell surface glycoproteins.

N-acetylglucosamine

An amino sugar important in the structure of glycoproteins and glycolipids.

Glycosyltransferases

Enzymes responsible for transferring glycans to proteins or lipids.

Glycohydrolases

Enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds, aiding in the breakdown of carbohydrates.

Lactose

A disaccharide composed of glucose and galactose, found in milk.

Maltose

A disaccharide made up of two glucose units, formed during the digestion of starch.

Cellulose

A polysaccharide that serves as a structural component of the plant cell wall.

Starch

A storage polysaccharide in plants composed of amylose and amylopectin.

Glycogen

A branched polysaccharide that serves as a primary energy storage form in animals.

Epimers

Stereoisomers that differ in configuration around only one specific carbon atom.

Aldoses

Monosaccharides containing an aldehyde group.

Ketoses

Monosaccharides containing a ketone group.

Terminal sugars

Sugars located at the end of a glycoconjugate chain, crucial for biological recognition.

Chiral centers

Carbon atoms in a molecule that have four different groups attached, creating isomers.

Poly(oligo)saccharides

Polymers of monosaccharide units that do not have a nutrient role.

N-linked glycosylation

Attachment of a carbohydrate to a nitrogen atom of an asparagine residue in proteins.

O-linked glycosylation

Attachment of a carbohydrate to the oxygen atom of a serine or threonine residue in proteins.

Glycoprotein

A protein that has carbohydrate chains attached, important in cell recognition.

Proteoglycan

A type of glycoprotein that is heavily glycosylated, found in connective tissues.

Glycolipid

A lipid with a carbohydrate attached, often found in cell membranes.

GlycoRNA

RNA that has sugar moieties associated with it, involved in various biological processes.

Hemiacetals

Formed when an alcohol reacts with an aldehyde.

Hemiketals

Formed when an alcohol reacts with a ketone.

Blood groups

Classification based on the presence of specific glycosyltransferases that add different sugars to red blood cells.

Fischer projection

A two-dimensional representation of a sugar that displays its stereochemistry.

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs)

Compounds formed when sugars react non-enzymatically with proteins or lipids, linked to diabetes complications.

Neuraminidase

An enzyme that cleaves sialic acid residues; targeted by antiviral drugs like Tamiflu.

Glycogen phosphorylase

An enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of glycogen into glucose.

Condensation reaction

A reaction in which two molecules combine to form a larger molecule with the release of water.