Physicochemical observations on some glycogens

Abstract

The avg. molecular wt. of samples of muscle glycogen were shown from sedimentation and diffusion data to be of the order of 2.4-2.9 x 106. Samples of liver glycogen had molecular wt. of 4.4-4.3 x 106. Alkaline extraction of the glycogen from its parent tissue did not effect very serious degradation. Glycogen from the whole tissues of Ascaris lumbricoides has a much smaller molecular wt., namely 0.70 x 106. Osmotic pressure measurements led to estimations of molecular wt. considerably smaller than those afforded by sedimentation-diffusion methods. In all instances the glycogens were found to be polydisperse with respect to molecular size. The observations of Oakley and Young on the effect of salts on the apparent molecular wt. by osmotic pressure were confirmed.