Encyclopedia > Glycogen

  Article Content

Glycogen

Glycogen is the principal storage form of glucose in cells. In human, the most glycogen is found in the liver, whereas muscles only contain a low amount of glycogen.

Sometimes called 'animal starch'. It is stored in liver and muscle cells and can be converted to glucose if needed. Liver glycogen is used to put glucose in the blood when needed. Muscle cell glycogen is not. Glycogen is the primary glucose (energy) storage mechanism.

Glycogen is a glucose polymer. It is generated from glucose by the enzyme glycogen synthase. Its breakdown into glucose, called glycogenolysis[?], is mediated by the enzyme glycogen phosphorylase.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Thomas a Kempis

... Biblical quotations, especially from the New Testament. His life is no doubt fitly characterized by the words under an old picture first referred to by ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 27.2 ms