Dolichol is an isoprenoid compound synthesized by the same
metabolic route as cholesterol (see here).
In vertebrate tissues, dolichol contains 18-20 isoprenoid
units (90-100 carbons total). Dolichol is phosphorylated
by a kinase that uses CTP to form dolichol
Phosphate. Dolichol phosphate is the structure
upon which the carbohydrate moieties of N-linked glycoproteins
are built. After assembly on dolichol phosphate, the carbohydrate
structure is transferred to an asparagine
residue of a target protein having the sequence Asn-x-Ser/Thr,
where X is any amino acid.