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Glycogen is analogous to starch, a glucose polymer in plants, and is sometimes referred to as animal starch, [16] having a similar structure to amylopectin but more extensively branched and compact than starch. Glycogen is a polymer of α(1→4) glycosidic bonds linked with α(1→6)-linked branches.
Glycogen (black granules) in spermatozoa of a flatworm; transmission electron microscopy, scale: 0.3 μm. Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, [2] fungi, and bacteria. [3] It is the main storage form of glucose in the human body.
Two common examples are cellulose, a main component of the cell wall in plants, and starch, a name derived from the Anglo-Saxon stercan, meaning to stiffen. [ 2 ] To name a polysaccharide composed of a single type of monosaccharide, that is a homopolysaccharide, the ending “-ose” of the monosaccharide is replaced with “-an”. [ 3 ]
Glucose-containing compounds are digested and taken up by the body in the intestines, including starch, glycogen, disaccharides and as monosaccharide. Glucose is stored in mainly the liver and muscles as glycogen. It is distributed and utilized in tissues as free glucose. To discuss image, please see Template talk:Human body diagrams
Liver cell glycogen can be converted to glucose and returned to the blood when insulin is low or absent; muscle cell glycogen is not returned to the blood because of a lack of enzymes. In fat cells, glucose is used to power reactions that synthesize some fat types and have other purposes. Glycogen is the body's "glucose energy storage ...
Glycogen is a highly branched structure, consisting of the core protein Glycogenin, surrounded by branches of glucose units, linked together. [ 2 ] [ 12 ] The branching of glycogen increases its solubility, and allows for a higher number of glucose molecules to be accessible for breakdown at the same time. [ 2 ]
B-type chains, making half of the branches, have two branch points, and all chains have the same length. E. Meléndez-Hevia, R. Meléndez and E. I. Canela (2000) "Glycogen Structure: an Evolutionary View", pp. 319–326 in Technological and Medical Implications of Metabolic Control Analysis (ed. A. Cornish-Bowden and M. L. Cárdenas), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
An example of an N-linked oligosaccharide, shown here with GlcNAc.X is any amino acid except proline. N-Linked glycosylation involves oligosaccharide attachment to asparagine via a beta linkage to the amine nitrogen of the side chain. [7]