Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160.
Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201.
J Biol Chem. 2018 May 11;293(19):7087-7088. doi: 10.1074/jbc.TM118.002642. Epub 2018 Mar 7.
The synthesis of glycogen allows for efficient intracellular storage of glucose molecules in a soluble form that can be rapidly released to enter glycolysis in response to energy demand. Intensive studies of glucose and glycogen metabolism, predominantly in skeletal muscle and liver, have produced innumerable insights into the mechanisms of hormone action, resulting in the award of several Nobel Prizes over the last one hundred years. Glycogen is actually present in all cells and tissues, albeit at much lower levels than found in muscle or liver. However, metabolic and physiological roles of glycogen in other tissues are poorly understood. This series of Minireviews summarizes what is known about the enzymes involved in brain glycogen metabolism and studies that have linked glycogen metabolism to multiple brain functions involving metabolic communication between astrocytes and neurons. Recent studies unexpectedly linking some forms of epilepsy to mutations in two poorly understood proteins involved in glycogen metabolism are also reviewed.
糖原的合成使得葡萄糖分子以可溶形式在细胞内高效储存，这些葡萄糖分子可以迅速释放以响应能量需求进入糖酵解途径。对葡萄糖和糖原代谢的深入研究，主要在骨骼肌和肝脏中进行，已经产生了无数关于激素作用机制的见解，导致在过去的一百年中获得了多项诺贝尔奖。实际上，糖原存在于所有细胞和组织中，尽管其水平远低于肌肉或肝脏中的水平。然而，糖原在其他组织中的代谢和生理作用还知之甚少。本综述系列总结了与脑糖原代谢相关的酶以及将糖原代谢与涉及星形胶质细胞和神经元之间代谢通讯的多种大脑功能相关联的研究。还回顾了最近将某些形式的癫痫与涉及糖原代谢的两种了解甚少的蛋白质的突变意外联系起来的研究。
