Function
Glycogen is a branching polymer of large numbers of glucose units linked together. The structure is based on chains of glucose units with α(1→4) glycosidic bonds between carbon atoms 1 and 4 of each pair of units. These linkages are catalyzed by the enzyme glycogen synthase.
Every 10 to 14 glucose units, a side branch with an additional chain of glucose units occurs. The side chain attaches at carbon atom 6 of a glucose unit, and the linkage is termed an α(1→6) glycosidic bond. This connection is catalyzed by a branching enzyme. A branching enzyme attaches a string of seven glucose units to the sixth carbon of a glucose unit, usually in an interior location of the glycogen molecule.
Read more about this topic: Glycogen Branching Enzyme
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”
—Margaret Fairless Barber (1869–1901)
“It is the function of vice to keep virtue within reasonable bounds.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”
—Frank Smith (b. 1928)