Mannose (Molecule of the Month for March 2008)
Hexose, Sugar
Mannose is a hexose sugar monomer. Mannose is present in numerous glycoconjugates including N-linked glycosylation of proteins. C-mannosylation is also abundant and can be found in collage-like regions. The name of both "mannose" and "manitol" comesis manna, which the Bible records as the food supplied to the Israelites during their journey through the Sinai Peninsula. Manna is a sweet secretion of several trees and shrubs, such as Fraxinus ornus.
D-Mannose, which appears in some fruits including cranberry, has been postulated to prevent the adhesion of bacteria to the epithelium of the urinary tract and Urinary bladder through a mechanism presumed to be competitive in nature with the polysaccharide coating of the cystic epithelium.
Formal Chemical Name (IUPAC)
(2S,3S,4S,5S,6R)-6-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2,3,4,5-tetraol
References
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Mannose structure
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C6 H12 O6
Update by Karl Harrison
(Molecule of the Month for
March 2008
)
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