Proteoglycans are
proteins that are heavily
glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core
protein" with one or more
covalently attached
glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a
serine (Ser) residue to which the glycosaminoglycan is joined through a tetrasaccharide bridge (e.g.
chondroitin sulfate-GlcA-Gal-Gal-Xyl-PROTEIN). The Ser residue is generally in the sequence -Ser-Gly-X-Gly- (where X can be any amino acid residue but Proline), although not every protein with this sequence has an attached glycosaminoglycan. The chains are long, linear carbohydrate polymers that are negatively charged under physiological conditions due to the occurrence of
sulfate and
uronic acid groups. Proteoglycans occur in the
connective tissue.