Uridine diphosphate glucose ( uracil-diphosphate glucose , UDP - glucose ) is a nucleotide sugar . It is involved in glycosyltransferase reactions in metabolism .
3-412: UDP-glucose is used in nucleotide sugar metabolism as an activated form of glucose, a substrate for enzymes called glucosyltransferases . UDP-glucose is a precursor of glycogen and can be converted into UDP-galactose and UDP-glucuronic acid , which can then be used as substrates by the enzymes that make polysaccharides containing galactose and glucuronic acid . UDP-glucose can also be used as
6-539: A precursor of sucrose, lipopolysaccharides and glycosphingolipids . UDP-glucose consists of the pyrophosphate group, ribose , glucose , and uracil . Nucleotide sugars metabolism In nucleotide sugar metabolism a group of biochemicals known as nucleotide sugars act as donors for sugar residues in the glycosylation reactions that produce polysaccharides . They are substrates for glycosyltransferases . The nucleotide sugars are also intermediates in nucleotide sugar interconversions that produce some of
9-550: The activated sugars needed for glycosylation reactions. Since most glycosylation takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi apparatus , there are a large family of nucleotide sugar transporters that allow nucleotide sugars to move from the cytoplasm , where they are produced, into the organelles where they are consumed. Nucleotide sugar metabolism is particularly well-studied in yeast, fungal pathogens, and bacterial pathogens , such as E. coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis , since these molecules are required for
#391608