Oligosaccharide
The oligosaccharides are molecules formed by the covalent union of 2 to 10 cyclic monosaccharides, from 3 onwards they can be linear or branched by means of glycosidic bonds, a covalent bond that is established between alcohol groups of two monosaccharides, with detachment of a water molecule.
The simplest group of oligosaccharides is that of disaccharides, or double sugars, which result from the union of two monosaccharides, some examples are:
- Lactose or milk sugar, formed by a unit of glucose and another of galactosa
- Sacarous or table sugar, which appears in sugary products, such as beetle and reed. It is made of glucose and fructose.
- Maltose or malt sugar is made up of two glucose molecules.
Some oligosaccharides have prebiotic properties, that is, they stimulate the proliferation of intestinal bacteria beneficial to human health or probiotics:
- Fructooligosaccharides (FOS).
- Galactooligosaccharides (GOS).
- Xilooligosaccharides (XOS).
Oligosaccharides can adopt very complex structures since the monosaccharide subunits that compose them can be linked both linearly and laterally, giving rise to branched polymers. Furthermore, oligosaccharides can be covalently linked to other groups of molecules forming glycoconjugates:
- oligosaccharide + protein = glycoprotein
- oligosaccharide + lipid = glylipid
These glycoconjugates are found associated with the outer face of the plasma membrane forming part of the glycocalyx, which has very important cellular functions such as cell recognition, signaling, and adhesion.
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