Biosynthesis of proteoglycogen: modulation of glycogenin expression in the developing chicken.

Glycogenin, the autoglucosyltransferase that primes the biosynthesis of proteoglycogen, is found in the polysaccharide linked proteoglycogen form in mammals and chicken. Glycogenin was released from proteoglycogen and its activity was measured, together with that of glycogen synthase as well as glycogen content, in muscle, liver, and brain during chicken development. The specific activity of glycogenin, expressed per protein, increased with development only in muscle and was higher than the specific activities measured in liver and brain at any time. Concomitant with the rise in activity, an enhanced expression of the protein was observed with Western blot. The specific activity of glycogen synthase increased with development in muscle and liver, while glycogen accumulation was noticeable only in liver. The results indicate that the molar concentration of proteoglycogen is higher in muscle than in liver. The high glycogen content of liver may indicate that the size of the polysaccharide moiety of proteoglycogen is larger in liver than in muscle. This is the first report of developmental modulation of de novo biosynthesis of glycogen at the level of the primer that initiates glucose polymerization.