Effects of fasting on liver glycogen structure in rats with type 2 diabetes
Liang Wang1, Qinghua Liu2, Mengmeng Wang2
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Drug Research and Clinical Pharmacy, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China; Department of Bioinformatics, School of Medical Informatics and Engineering, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China.
Abstract:
Liver glycogen, a highly branched glucose polymer, is important for blood sugar homeostasis. It comprises α particles which are made of linked β particles; the molecular structure changes diurnally. In diabetic liver, the α particles are fragile, easily breaking apart into β particles in chaotropic agents such as dimethyl sulfoxide. We here use size-exclusion chromatography to study how fasting changes liver-glycogen structure in vivo for mice in which type-2 diabetes had previously been induced. Diabetic glycogen degraded enzymatically more quickly in the fasted animals than did glycogen without fasting, with fewer α particles, which however were still fragile. The glycogen had fewer long chains and more shorter chains after fasting. This study gives an overview of the in vivo dynamic changes in α-particles under starvation conditions in both normal and diabetic livers.
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