Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

3

Hi,

I have a mid-term tomorrow in biochem and my TA has confused me horribly. He gave us a worksheet with the question:

"Our bodies can create highly branched polysaccharides of glucose through a process of GLYCONEOGENESIS. What is the name of this polymer?"

The answer he gave: GLYCOGEN.

Now, I'm a big gluconeogenesis fan (being Paleo for a year and all) and I also study hard, so I know (because my textbook says so) that the result of GLUCOneogenesis is GLUCOSE. And I also know that the end result of GLYCOGENESIS (no "neo") is Glycogen.

The TA insisted that the words 'glyconeogenesis' and 'gluconeogenesis' are the same thing and that the answer is glycogen.

I can't get a hold of my prof for clarification and my classmates are memorizing 'glyconeogenesis' to mean the same thing as glycogenesis.

I figure if anyone would know, it would be hard-core paleos!!! Thanks!!!

flag	asked Nov 11 2011 at 1:31 AshleyH 113●1

	not sure but the end result of gluconeogenesis would be glyconeogenesis or formation of glycogen – DH Dec 27 2011 at 2:56
	not to be confused with glycogenolysis which is breakdown of glycogen to form free glucose – DH Dec 27 2011 at 2:56

Evelyn aka CarbSane · Answer 1 · 2011-11-11 02:27:31Z UTC

Maybe he was looking at this image at the time and contracted the two? Or perhaps glycoNEOgenesis is glycogen formed from glucose formed from gluconeogenesis?

alt text

Definitely since he's talking about the synthesis of a polysaccharide, and asks for the name of a polymer, it's ... glycogen. Go with Travis here! Glucose would not be the correct answer either to the question as posed, even if the question contains errors.

Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-11-11 01:34:59Z UTC

5

I'm no biochemist, but the TA is wrong. It's gluconeogenesis for glucose from lactate, glucogenic amino acids etc. and glycogenesis for the creation of glycogen in liver and muscle.

I guess you'd know from the question that the polysaccharide is glycogen though.

answered Nov 11 2011 at 1:34

Travis Culp♦
39.8k●1●32●134

2

Thanks, I thought the TA was wrong too. And my textbook says he's wrong. I guess if it talks about 'highly branched' or 'poly' then I'll just go glycogen. But I'll know the answer is wrong... – AshleyH Nov 11 2011 at 1:40

wildwabbit · Answer 3 · 2011-11-11 01:54:43Z UTC

3

Your TA is confused. Glyconeogenesis is actually another term for gluconeogenesis (so it is a valid term) but as you realized, it IS NOT the same thing as glycogenolysis.

answered Nov 11 2011 at 1:54

wildwabbit
2,570●4●15

No more. · Answer 4 · 2011-11-11 06:01:48Z UTC

Uhm, everyone here is a bit mistaken or at least incomplete. Both your TA and the rest of the crew. Your TA is mistaken because he's talking about Glycogenesis -- the synthesis of branched glycogen from glucose molecules --- not glyconeogenesis. Gluconeogenesis (or Glyconeogenesis) does indeed exist but it isn't about making branched polymers. It's about making a single glucose molecule. When these single glucose molecules are combined for storage (usually during a fed state, not typically from a cell doing gluconeogenesis) together, that structure is called glycogen and the process of making them is called glycogenesis. On the other hand, if we were to break down glycogen back to glucose, that process would be called glycogenolysis. I know these things because I'm Not a Doctor.

Albert · Answer 5 · 2011-11-11 04:00:09Z UTC

1

Love the communal knowledge of the PH community.

answered Nov 11 2011 at 4:00

Albert
1,947●3●11

Dorado Galore · Answer 6 · 2011-11-11 04:59:07Z UTC

1

Your TA is mistaken, for reasons mentioned above.

The key thing is: your very question indicates you've got the makings of an independent thinker.

Makings? Sh%t. You already THERE, bro.

answered Nov 11 2011 at 4:59

Dorado Galore
8,297●1●3●23

Jeff · Answer 7 · 2011-12-26 18:46:58Z UTC

Glyconeogenesis is indeed a real process, it is when glycogen in the liver is refilled via gluconeogenesis. A large portion of liver glycogen is refilled this way, not via carbohydrate consumption as many people would assume. I have a few papers that show this but on a different computer.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dmrr.217/full

Please help a biochem student out with gluconeogenesis…?

7 Answers