The Pathway Ontology (PW), is currently being developed at the Rat Genome Database. For more information about this vocabulary, please see Petri et al. The rat genome database pathway portal. Database (Oxford). 2011 Apr 8;2011:bar010. Print 2011 or contact us (http://rgd.mcw.edu/contact/index.shtml).
The formation of nucleotide hexosamines, primarily UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, constitutes the final step in the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway which provides substrates for the O-linked glycosylation of proteins. Glycoproteins that are either secreted from the cell or inserted into the plasma membrane undergo N-linked glycosylation. The O-linked glycosylation of nuclear and/or cytosolic proteins confers a signaling dimension to the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.