蛋白聚糖（英语：proteoglycan）是被大量糖基化了的糖蛋白。基本的蛋白聚糖单位由一个“核心蛋白质”与一个或多个共价结合着的糖胺聚糖链所组成。附着点是一个丝氨酸残基，糖胺聚糖通过四糖桥被连接到其上（例如：硫酸软骨素-葡萄糖酸-半乳糖-半乳糖-木糖-蛋白质）。丝氨酸残基通常在于这种串行中：-丝氨酸-甘氨酸-X-甘氨酸-（X指可以是任何氨基酸残基），尽管并不是所有具有此串行的蛋白质都具有一个附着着的糖胺聚糖。

Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a serine (Ser) residue to which the glycosaminoglycan is joined through a tetrasaccharide bridge (e.g. chondroitin sulfate-GlcA-Gal-Gal-Xyl-PROTEIN). The Ser residue is generally in the sequence -Ser-Gly-X-Gly- (where X can be any amino acid residue but Proline), although not every protein with this sequence has an attached glycosaminoglycan. The chains are long, linear carbohydrate polymers that are negatively charged under physiological conditions due to the occurrence of sulfate and uronic acid groups. Proteoglycans occur in the connective tissue.