Glycogen in Biological News

UF makes gene therapy advance in severe genetic disorder

... a cure for the disorder in children. Called glycogen storage disease type 1A, the genetic disease ... Weinstein, M.D., M.M.Sc., director of the UF glycogen Storage Disease Program and co-investigator on ... one in 100,000 children have this severe form of glycogen storage disease. Children receive doses of ...

Post-exercise caffeine helps muscles refuel

... ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing ... Society. The study, "High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when ... bout was designed to reduce the athletes' muscle glycogen stores prior to the experimental trial the next ...

The accumulation of sugar in neurons may explain the origin of several neurodegenerative diseases

... this disease arises. Joan J. Guinovart, expert in glycogen metabolism explains, We have observed that laforin and malin act jointly as guardians of glycogen levels in neurons and are stimulated by the ... its function, these proteins are not degraded, glycogen accumulates and thus neurons deteriorate and cell ...

Computational model examines the pathways of Alzheimer's that strikes at the young

... the study entitled A Computational Model of the Role of Presenilin-1 and glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 in Familial Alzheimer's Disease. They will present their ... The proteins presenilin-1 (PS1) (a mutated gene found in familial AD) and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) (a protein) and amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque ...

Computational model examines the pathways of Alzheimer's that strikes at the young

... the study entitled A Computational Model of the Role of Presenilin-1 and glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 in Familial Alzheimer's Disease. They will present their ... The proteins presenilin-1 (PS1) (a mutated gene found in familial AD) and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) (a protein) and amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque ...

Single-celled bacterium works 24-7

... atmosphere, and water, Cyanothece produces glucose, a sugar it stores in glycogen granules, filling its chemical gas tank. At night, the Cyanothece ramps up ... Since nitrogen fixation requires a lot of energy, Cyanothece uses the glycogen stored in its chemical gas tank through a process called respiration. ...

SEX4, starch and phosphorylation

... soluble storage carbohydrate accumulated in animals, fungi, and bacteria. The SEX4 phosphatase is related to laforin, a protein involved in animal glycogen metabolism. When laforin is missing, insoluble starch-like polyglucosans (Lafora bodies) accumulate, which results in neuronal dysfunction, severe ...

Scientists show that mitochondrial DNA variants are linked to risk factors for type 2 diabetes

... exhibited significant differences related to energy metabolism and storage. One rat strain exhibited impaired glucose tolerance, reduced muscle glycogen synthesis, decreased skeletal muscle ATP (energy) levels, and decreased activity of an energy-producing enzyme called cytochrome c oxidase, when ...

Muscle-targeted gene therapy reverses rare muscular dystrophy in mice

... the body's primary energy source. As a result, glycogen builds up in muscles throughout the body, ... could introduce the functioning gene and correct glycogen buildup in heart and skeletal muscle. The ... exhibited high levels of the enzyme and reduced glycogen content in the injected muscle. The mice also had ...

UCSD research reveals mechanism involved with type of fatal epilepsy

... disease patients. Thus, researchers have long thought that a defect in glycogen metabolism is intimately linked to the disease. Recessive mutations in two ... This increase in laforin may lead to Lafora disease through aberrant glycogen metabolism. This work establishes a few testable models as to the ...

Researchers seek to design first treatment for neuroAIDS

... antagonists like the Alzheimer's drug Memantine, platelet activating factor (PAF) inhibitors, and in the case of the new grant, drugs that inhibit glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3b) and mixed lineage kinase (MLK). "The number of HIV patients that suffer brain damage is usually estimated at one ...

UF scientists test improved gene therapy method for hereditary heart conditions

... that normally breaks down the carbohydrate glycogen, used to store energy. The disease causes gradual weakening of muscle and heart tissue when glycogen accumulates in muscles, limiting their ability to contract. "This is a way of delivering gene therapy to the heart that is aimed at treating ...

Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel switch between sugar and fat

... "5'-AMP is a pivotal metabolic signal whose circulatory level determines the balance of the peripheral organ energy supply between glucose, glycogen and fat," the authors conclude, raising the longer-term possibility of 5'-AMP-based therapies for obesity or type 2 diabetes. ...

Discarded placentas deliver researchers promising cells similar to embryonic stem cells

... liver cells, heart cells, the glial and neuronal cells that make up the nervous system, and pancreatic cells with genetic markers for insulin and glycogen production. "In this first paper we sought to determine if amniotic epithelial cells have the potential to differentiate into many different cell ...

Lance Armstrong through a physiological lens: hard training boosts muscle power 8%

... 2 weeks apart with no sprint training intervention." In addition, though previous studies showed increases in citrate synthase (CS) activity and glycogen content after several weeks of sprint interval training with equivocal data, "we show here that the total training volume necessary to stimulate ...