Proteomic Investigation of the Binding Agent between Liver Glycogen β Particles

ACS Omega. 2018 Apr 30;3(4):3640-3645. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b00119. Epub 2018 Apr 2.

Abstract

Glycogen is a highly branched glucose polymer which plays an important role in glucose storage and the maintenance of blood sugar homeostasis. The dimeric protein glycogenin can self-glucosylate to act as a primer for glycogen synthesis, eventually resulting in small (∼20 nm diameter) glycogen β particles with a dimer of glycogenin at their core. In the liver, glycogen is also found in the form of α particles: large bound composites of many β particles. Here, we provide evidence using qualitative and quantitative proteomics and size-exclusion chromatography from healthy rat, mouse, and human liver glycogen that glycogenin is the binding agent linking β particles together into α particles.