The initiation of glycogen biosynthesis in rat heart. Studies with a purified preparation

Two fractions of glycogen synthase were isolated from rat cardiac muscle on the basis of a different affinity for DEAE-cellulose and omega-aminobutyl-agarose. One of these fractions was able to transfer glucosyl residues from UDP-glucose not only to glycogen (GS-1 activity) but also to an endogenous acceptor. The latter reaction (GS-2 activity) occurred in the absence of added glycogen, and its reaction product was insoluble in trichloroacetic acid. This compound was degraded by amylolytic enzymes, thus showing that the product synthesized on the endogenous acceptor was an alpha 1,4-glucan. After incubation with alpha-amylase-free proteolytic enzyme, the compound was rendered trichloroacetic acid-soluble. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, under both native and denaturing conditions, showed that GS-2 reaction products moved electrophoretically associated to protein. Our results give further evidence for the association between an alpha 1,4-glucan and protein, which we postulate is related to the initiation of glycogen biosynthesis.