The importance of glycogen molecular structure for blood glucose control
Asad Nawaz,
Peng Zhang,
Enpeng Li,
Robert G. Gilbert,
Mitchell A. Sullivan
Affiliations
Asad Nawaz
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, P.R. China; Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
Peng Zhang
School of Electronic Information Engineering, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing, 408100, China
Enpeng Li
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, P.R. China; Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
Robert G. Gilbert
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, P.R. China; Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China; The University of Queensland, Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Brisbane 4072, QLD, Australia; Corresponding author
Mitchell A. Sullivan
Glycation and Diabetes, Mater Research Institute – The University of Queensland, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia; Corresponding author
Summary: Type 2 diabetes incidence continues to increase rapidly. This disease is characterized by a breakdown in blood glucose homeostasis. The impairment of glycemic control is linked to the structure of glycogen, a highly branched glucose polymer. Liver glycogen, a major controller of blood sugar, comprises small β particles which can link together to form larger α particles. These degrade to glucose more slowly than β particles, enabling a controlled release of blood glucose. The α particles in diabetic mice are however easily broken down into β particles, which degrade more quickly. Because this may lead to higher blood glucose, understanding this diabetes-associated breakdown of α-particle molecular structure may help in the development of diabetes therapeutics. We review the extraction of liver glycogen, its molecular structure, and how this structure is affected by diabetes and then use this knowledge to make postulates to guide the development of strategies to help mitigate type 2 diabetes.
