Skip to main content
Biology LibreTexts

3B: More Complex Carbohydrates

  • Page ID
    4583
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Learning Objectives

    • state the differences between the homopolysaccharides glycogen, starch cellulose, and chitin and those with dissacharide repeat units (glycosoaminoglycans)
    • draw cartoon models of complex oligosaccharides such as peptidoglycans of bacterial cell walls, N and O linked glycoproteins, and proteoglycans showing the linkage of protein and CHO
    • describe the role of protein and cell surface CHO in binding and biological function
    • given diagrams of leukocyte and endothelial cells interactions, describe the role of selectins, selectin ligands, integrins and cellular adhesion molecules in immune cell/blood vessel interactions.

    This chapter on complex carbohydrates (glycans/glycoconjugates) will review those features that are deemed especially important for a one semester course dealing with structure and function of biomolecules.


    This page titled 3B: More Complex Carbohydrates is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Henry Jakubowski.

    • Was this article helpful?