Xinle Tan, Ziyi Wang, Ut Cheung, Zhenxia Hu, Qinghua Liu, Liang Wang, Mitchell A Sullivan, Daniel Cozzolino, Robert G Gilbert
Glycogen, a complex branched glucose polymer, is responsible for sugar storage in blood glucose homeostasis. It comprises small β particles bound together into composite α particles. In diabetic livers, α particles are fragile, breaking apart into smaller particles in dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO; they are however stable in glycogen from healthy animals. We postulate that the bond between β particles in α particles involves hydrogen bonding. Liver-glycogen fragility in normal and db/db mice (an animal model for diabetes) is compared using various hydrogen-bond breakers (DMSO, guanidine and urea) at different temperatures...
April 20, 2024: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules