OligosaccharideSaccharides are simple sugars. Oligosaccharides are saccharide polymers containing only about three to six simple sugars as components. These sugars are linked through oxygen or nitrogen atoms to compatible amino acid chains in either proteins or lipids.
In most glycoproteins and glycolipids, oligosaccharides can be found to be present. Because they are highly varied and yet similar in structure, they make excellent chemical markers both in nature and in science. One of the most common uses of oligosaccharides as chemical markers is the A-B-O blood typing system. A and B blood types are marked by two different oligosaccharide glycolipids that are embedded in the cellular membranes of red blood cells. A blood has one, B blood has the other, AB has both mixed, and the O blood type has neither. Though these oligosaccharides are similar enough to have the same functions, they are dissimilar enough that in a foreign system they will be attacked by the body’s immune system, which is why blood must be typed prior to transfusing.
A few natural oligosaccharides are found outside of glycoproteins and glycolipids. Maltodextrin and cellodextrin result from microbial breakdown of starch and cellulose, for instance.
Web Resources On Oligosaccharide
Oligosaccharide Profiling
Oligosaccharide microarrays for glycomics.
Book Resources On OligosaccharideSolid Support Oligosaccharide Synthesis and Combinatorial Carbohydrate Libraries by Peter H. Seeberger (Ed)
Oligosaccharides: Their Synthesis and Biological Roles by Osborn & Kahn
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