mucopolysaccharide (my
'kəpŏlēsăk`ərīd), class of polysaccharide molecules, also known as glycosaminoglycans, composed of amino-sugars chemically linked into repeating units that give a linear unbranched polymeric compound. The monomeric amino-sugar constituents are ordinary monosaccharides that contain a nitrogen atom covalently bound to one of the ring carbons of the sugar portion. The nitrogen is, in turn, either bonded to two atoms of hydrogen (termed a primary amino-group) or to another carbon atom (hence, a substituted amino-group). The mucopolysaccharides are quite similar structurally to the more well-known animal and plant polysaccharides such as glycogen glycogen (glī`kəjən)
..... Click the link for more information. and starch starch, white, odorless, tasteless, carbohydrate powder. It plays a vital role in the biochemistry of both plants and animals and has important commercial uses.
..... Click the link for more information. . Chitin chitin (kīt`ən), main constituent of the shells of arthropods.
..... Click the link for more information. is a particularly plentiful mucopolysaccharide and serves, like cellulose cellulose, chief constituent of the cell walls of plants. Chemically, it is a carbohydrate that is a high molecular weight polysaccharide. Raw cotton is composed of 91% pure cellulose; other important natural sources are flax, hemp, jute, straw, and wood.
..... Click the link for more information. does in plants, as a structural polysaccharide for many phyla of lower plants and animals. The shells of lobsters, crayfish, crabs, insects, and many other invertebrate organisms contain mostly chitin complexed with inorganic salts. The copepods, a group of microscopic marine organisms of the class Crustacea, alone are considered to synthesize about 109 tons of chitin per year. Chitin is probably the second most abundant large organic compound on earth (the first being cellulose). Heparin heparin (hĕp`ərĭn), anticoagulant produced by cells in many animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , an anticoagulant used widely in the treatment of blood clotting disorders, such as pulmonary embolus, is a mucopolysaccharide. Another important compound of this class is hyaluronic acid, a molecule found universally in the connective tissues of animals and in the fluids of their eyes and joints. Hyaluronic acid in association with protein has been isolated from various organisms, and such complexes are thought to bind water in the cellular spaces, thus holding cells together in a jellylike matrix. In addition, such substances may provide the fluids of joints with lubricating and shock-absorbing qualities. Many other mucopolysaccharides are, like hyaluronic acid, associated with proteins; the separation between such proteoglycans and glycoproteins is somewhat arbitrary, but the latter compounds are distinguished by their relative paucity of sugars.
mucopolysaccharide [¦myü·kō‚päl·ē′sak·ə‚rīd]
'kəpŏlēsăk`ərīd), class of polysaccharide molecules, also known as glycosaminoglycans, composed of amino-sugars chemically linked into repeating units that give a linear unbranched polymeric compound. The monomeric amino-sugar constituents are ordinary monosaccharides that contain a nitrogen atom covalently bound to one of the ring carbons of the sugar portion. The nitrogen is, in turn, either bonded to two atoms of hydrogen (termed a primary amino-group) or to another carbon atom (hence, a substituted amino-group). The mucopolysaccharides are quite similar structurally to the more well-known animal and plant polysaccharides such as glycogen glycogen (glī`kəjən)..... Click the link for more information. and starch starch, white, odorless, tasteless, carbohydrate powder. It plays a vital role in the biochemistry of both plants and animals and has important commercial uses.
..... Click the link for more information. . Chitin chitin (kīt`ən), main constituent of the shells of arthropods.
..... Click the link for more information. is a particularly plentiful mucopolysaccharide and serves, like cellulose cellulose, chief constituent of the cell walls of plants. Chemically, it is a carbohydrate that is a high molecular weight polysaccharide. Raw cotton is composed of 91% pure cellulose; other important natural sources are flax, hemp, jute, straw, and wood.
..... Click the link for more information. does in plants, as a structural polysaccharide for many phyla of lower plants and animals. The shells of lobsters, crayfish, crabs, insects, and many other invertebrate organisms contain mostly chitin complexed with inorganic salts. The copepods, a group of microscopic marine organisms of the class Crustacea, alone are considered to synthesize about 109 tons of chitin per year. Chitin is probably the second most abundant large organic compound on earth (the first being cellulose). Heparin heparin (hĕp`ərĭn), anticoagulant produced by cells in many animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , an anticoagulant used widely in the treatment of blood clotting disorders, such as pulmonary embolus, is a mucopolysaccharide. Another important compound of this class is hyaluronic acid, a molecule found universally in the connective tissues of animals and in the fluids of their eyes and joints. Hyaluronic acid in association with protein has been isolated from various organisms, and such complexes are thought to bind water in the cellular spaces, thus holding cells together in a jellylike matrix. In addition, such substances may provide the fluids of joints with lubricating and shock-absorbing qualities. Many other mucopolysaccharides are, like hyaluronic acid, associated with proteins; the separation between such proteoglycans and glycoproteins is somewhat arbitrary, but the latter compounds are distinguished by their relative paucity of sugars.
mucopolysaccharide [¦myü·kō‚päl·ē′sak·ə‚rīd]
(biochemistry)
Any of a group of polysaccharides containing an amino sugar and uronic acid; a constituent of mucoproteins, glycoproteins, and blood-group substances.
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