The anhydrofructose pathway of glycogen catabolism

In many living forms, glucose is stored in the polymeric form of glycogen and starch as a source of carbon and energy. Upon need, these polymers are broken down to their building block glucose in the presence of water and hydrolases, and glucose 1-phosphate in the presence of phosphate and phosphorylase. In the last decade, we established an alternative glycogen catabolic pathway, the so-called Anhydrofructose (AF) pathway, the description of which was approved by IUBMB in 2006. It is a pathway on the formation of an array of secondary metabolites from glycogen via the central intermediate 1,5-anhydro-D-fructose (AF). Furthermore, we demonstrated the occurrence of this pathway in both eukaryota and prokaryota. Metabolites of this pathway have been identified in mammals including humans. In this review, the physiological and molecular functions of these metabolites in the AF pathway as well as its regulation are discussed.