N-Acetylglucosamine

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N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is an amide derivative of the monosaccharide glucose. It is a secondary amide between glucosamine and acetic acid. It is significant in several biological systems. GlcNAc is important for the post-translational modification glycosylation, specifically N-linked and O-glycosylation. In N-linked glycosylation, it is the first sugar in the chain, attached to the nitrogen of an asparagine (N) in a protein. The rest of the sugar chain is attached to the GlcNAc. It is part of a biopolymer in the bacterial cell wall, which is built from alternating units of GlcNAc and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc), cross-linked with oligopeptides at the lactic acid residue of MurNAc. This layered structure is called peptidoglycan (formerly called murein). GlcNAc is the monomeric unit of the polymer chitin, which forms the exoskeletons of arthropods like insects and crustaceans. It is the main component of the radulas of mollusks, the beaks of cephalopods, and a major component of the...

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