Lack of glycogenin causes glycogen accumulation and muscle function impairment

Glycogenin is considered essential for glycogen synthesis, as it acts as a primer for the initiation of the polysaccharide chain. Against expectations, glycogenin-deficient mice (Gyg KO) accumulate high amounts of glycogen in striated muscle. Furthermore, this glycogen contains no covalently bound p...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Testoni, Giorgia, Duran, Jordi, García-Rocha, Mar, Vilaplana, Francisco, Serrano, Antonio L., Sebastián, David, López Soldado, Iliana, Sullivan, Mitchell A., Slebe Concha, Juan Felipe, 1981-, Vilaseca, Marta, Muñoz Cánoves, Pura, 1962-, Guinovart, Joan J. (Joan Josep), 1947-
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2017
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/36843
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/36843
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.06.008
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Glycogenin
Glycogen
GSD XV
Glycogen storage disease XV
Glycogenosis
Exercise
Muscle performance
Priming protein
Oxidative metabolism
Mitochondrial respiration
Description
Summary:Glycogenin is considered essential for glycogen synthesis, as it acts as a primer for the initiation of the polysaccharide chain. Against expectations, glycogenin-deficient mice (Gyg KO) accumulate high amounts of glycogen in striated muscle. Furthermore, this glycogen contains no covalently bound protein, thereby demonstrating that a protein primer is not strictly necessary for the synthesis of the polysaccharide in vivo. Strikingly, in spite of the higher glycogen content, Gyg KO mice showed lower resting energy expenditure and less resistance than control animals when subjected to endurance exercise. These observations can be attributed to a switch of oxidative myofibers toward glycolytic metabolism. Mice overexpressing glycogen synthase in the muscle showed similar alterations, thus indicating that this switch is caused by the excess of glycogen. These results may explain the muscular defects of GSD XV patients, who lack glycogenin-1 and show high glycogen accumulation in muscle.