ENZYMATIC BREAKDOWN AND SYNTHESIS OF CARBOHYDRATE
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
This paper deals with the first stages of glycogen breakdown (and its synthesis) in animal tissues. The large glycogen molecule must first be broken down into smaller units before further reactions can occur. There exists a common initial pathway for fermentation and oxidation, the description of which will establish the necessary correlation with the main topic of this Symposium.
The matters to be considered are: (1) the enzymes which break down and synthesize glycogen, (2) the products formed by these enzymes, and (3) the points along the anaerobic pathway at which oxidations can occur.
Two enzymes are known to occur in animal tissues which are able to disintegrate glycogen, namely, diastase and phosphorylase. The physiological importance of these two enzymes in the breakdown of glycogen in such tissues as muscle, heart, brain and liver will first be considered. The fact that the end-products of glycogen breakdown in liver and muscle...
