Glycogen, the primary storage form of glucose, is a rapid and accessible form of energy that can be supplied to tissues on demand. Each glycogen granule, or "glycosome," is considered an independent metabolic unit composed of a highly branched polysaccharide and various proteins involved in its metabolism. In this Minireview, we review the literature to follow the dynamic life of a glycogen granule in a multicompartmentalized system, i.e. the cell, and how and where glycogen granules appear and the factors governing its degradation. A better understanding of the importance of cellular compartmentalization as a regulator of glycogen metabolism is needed to unravel its role in brain energetics.
Keywords: actin; carbohydrate; carbohydrate biosynthesis; cell compartmentalization; endoplasmic reticulum (ER); glycogen; glycogenolysis; protein complex; sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR).
© 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.