A continuous assay method for glycogen synthesis from UDPglucose

A light scattering assay was developed for continuous monitoring of glycogen synthesis from UDPglucose. A close linear correlation between light-scattering signal and the amount of radioactively labelled glucose incorporated into glycogen suggests that the scattering signal is determined by the average molecular weight of the glycogen molecules. The method has the advantage of continuity, and it is suitable to follow the time course of the reaction at different conditions and to determine the initial rate of glycogen synthesis in a relatively simple and fast way. The possibility of measurement of glycogen synthase activity in muscle extracts was also tested.