Interesting Facts About Glycans

By: Richard D. Cummings

The disaccharide lactose, Galβ1-4Glc, is found only in the milk of mammals, and so far, it and extended milk oligosaccharides derived from it, are found nowhere else in nature...

By: Richard D. Cummings

L-Ascorbic acid, vitamin C, is termed a ‘sugar acid’ or ‘acidic sugar’, and is a derivative of glucose with a carboxyl group at C1 (1).  In mammals, UDP-glucuronic acid is the...

By: Richard D. Cummings

Cholesterol can be glycosylated, and indeed glucosylated cholesterol is common (1).  In animal cells, it is a β-D-glucopyranoside derivative of cholesterol (GlcChol), which is...

One of the most complex polysaccharides in nature is pectin, found in plant cell walls (1,2).  Pectin is a family of galacturonic acid-rich polysaccharides that includes...

By: Richard D. Cummings

One of the smallest known naturally-occurring glycoprotein in mammals is likely to be CD24, also known as nectadrin. Although it behaves in analyses as a 23-60 kDa...

By: Richard D. Cummings

While the N-glycosylation sequon N-X-S/T in glycoproteins of plants, fungi, and animals, is well known, there are many reports of alternative sequons for N-glycosylation in...