Three major repeating biomacromolecules,

polynucleotides,
polypeptides and
carbohydrates,

are responsible for much of the information transfer in biological systems.

Encoding and transmission of information relies on the construction of diverse macromolecules that contain the message.

Polynucleotides serve as the blueprint of life in form of DNA;

polypeptides carry out most of reactions in living cells.

Both polymers are strictly linear and derived biosynthetically via reliable templated syntheses.

DNA is composed of 4 nucleotides and mammalian proteins have 20 proteinogenic amino acids that determine polymer diversity: 4096 (4⁶) hexanucleotides and 64 million (20⁶) hexapeptides are possible.

Posttranslational modifications such as

phosphorylation,
glycosylation, and
lipidation

further increase protein complexity.

O ser humano possui aprox. 25.000 genes enquanto uma bactéria unicelular possui aprox. 6.000 genes. Apensar da aparente pequena quantidade de genes humanos comparados a uma bactéria, a diferença está na "pós-translacional modificação" das proteínas no ser humano. Uma das mais comuns modificações está na glicolização de proteínas

O estudo dos açúcares que influenciam as funções das proteínas e lipídios é chamado de glicoma. Em uma célula sadia o glicoma tem certas características diferentes de uma célula cancerígena.

Os glicans são formados no Retículo endoplamático (ER) e/ou(?) complexo de Golgi e assim os glicans se ligam as proteínas.

Diferente do DNA que tem uma sequência única de formação 3'-5' e as proteínas que tem o N-terminal e o XX-inicial, os sacarídeos podem se formar de maneiras diversas dependendo de suas conecções.

Mucin

Mucins are a diverse family of densely glycosylated proteins. Mucin domains within the protein core are rich in threonine, serine and hydroxyproline enabling post-translational O-glycosylation. The highly glycosylated properties of mucins make them resistant to proteolysis and able to hold water, giving them the gel-like properties found in mucosal barriers. Mucins also contain cysteine-rich regions that participate in intermolecular cross-linking and are typically secreted as large aggregates. Mucins may also be associated with membranes and may serve as receptor-like ligands for carbohydrate-binding molecules.