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A view of the atomic structure of a single branched strand of glucose units in a glycogen molecule. 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]
Glycogen is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by glycogenesis within the brain and stomach. [15] 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 ...
Starch, cellulose, and glycogen ("animal starch") are common glucose polymers (polysaccharides). Some of these polymers (starch or glycogen) serve as energy stores, while others (cellulose and chitin, which is made from a derivative of glucose) have structural roles. Oligosaccharides of glucose combined with other sugars serve as important ...
Homopolysaccharides are polysaccharides composed of a single type of sugar monomer. For example, cellulose is an unbranched homopolysaccharide made up of glucose monomers connected via beta-glycosidic linkages; glycogen is a branched form, where the glucose monomers are joined by alpha-glycosidic linkages.
The terms glycans and polysaccharides are defined by IUPAC as synonyms meaning "compounds consisting of a large number of monosaccharides linked glycosidically". [1] However, in practice the term glycan may also be used to refer to the carbohydrate portion of a glycoconjugate, such as a glycoprotein, glycolipid, or a proteoglycan, even if the carbohydrate is only an oligosaccharide. [2]
Glucose is stored in the liver in the form of the polysaccharide glycogen, which is a glucan (a polymer made up of glucose molecules). Liver cells ( hepatocytes ) have glucagon receptors . When glucagon binds to the glucagon receptors, the liver cells convert the glycogen into individual glucose molecules and release them into the bloodstream ...
It is a highly branched, water-soluble polysaccharide derived from glucose. [1] Phytoglycogen is a highly branched polysaccharide used to store glucose in a similar way that glycogen is the glucose storage for animals. It is made up of branched, flexible chains on glucose molecules that grow similarly to synthetic dendrimers.
Starch is made of about 70–80% amylopectin by weight, though it varies depending on the source. For example, it ranges from lower percent content in long-grain rice, amylomaize, and russet potatoes to 100% in glutinous rice, waxy potato starch, and waxy corn. Amylopectin is highly branched, being formed of 2,000 to 200,000 glucose units.