Glycogen is a complex carbohydrate featuring interconnected glucose molecules.
Understanding Glycogen's Structure
Glycogen's structure can be best understood by examining its components and linkages:
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Monomer Units: Glycogen is made entirely of alpha-D-glucose units.
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Glycosidic Bonds: These glucose units are linked together in long polymer chains by alpha acetal linkages. Specifically, the linkages occur between carbon #1 of one glucose molecule and carbon #4 of the next glucose molecule (alpha(1→4) glycosidic bonds).
- Reference: As stated in the provided reference, "All of the monomer units are alpha-D-glucose, and all the alpha acetal links connect C # 1 of one glucose to C # 4 of the next glucose."
A Visual Representation
While a complete visual representation is difficult to provide in text, imagine long chains of glucose molecules joined end-to-end. These chains also branch off, creating a highly branched structure.
Key Structural Features
- Alpha(1→4) Glycosidic Bonds: The primary linkages within the glucose chains.
- Branching: Glycogen is a highly branched molecule. Branch points occur approximately every 8-12 glucose residues via alpha(1→6) glycosidic bonds. (This information is supplemental, and while useful for understanding the complete picture of glycogen, was not provided in the reference).
