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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
For example, in the first regulated step, hexokinase converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate. Instead of continuing through the glycolysis pathway, this intermediate can be converted into glucose storage molecules, such as glycogen or starch. The reverse reaction, breaking down, e.g., glycogen, produces mainly glucose-6-phosphate; very little ...
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.
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.
Other uses for α-glucan have been developed based on its availability in bacteria. The accumulation of glycogen Neisseria polysacchera and other bacteria are able to use in α-glucan to catalyze glucose units to form α-1,4-glucan and liberating fructose in the process. To regulate carbohydrate metabolism, more resistant starch was necessary.
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 ]
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 ]
Glycogen phosphorylase breaks up glycogen into glucose subunits (see also figure below): (α-1,4 glycogen chain) n + Pi ⇌ (α-1,4 glycogen chain) n-1 + α-D-glucose-1-phosphate. [2] Glycogen is left with one fewer glucose molecule, and the free glucose molecule is in the form of glucose-1-phosphate.