Comparative study of nuclear and cytoplasmic glycogen isolated from mutant HD33 ascites cells

Abstract

Mutant cells of the HD33 subline of the Ehrlich-Lettré ascites tumor synthesize and store glycogen mainly intranuclearly, when growing in vivo, and exclusively in the cytoplasm, when permanently cultivated as a suspension cell strain. To investigate whether there exist differences between glycogen of nuclear and cytoplasmic origin, the ultrastructure and the biophysical and biochemical properties of glycogen from in vivo and in vitro grown HD33 ascites cells were compared. Pronounced heterogeneity and differences in glycogen particle ultrastructure were evident in situ and after isolation of the native, high-molecular polysaccharide. Nuclear glycogen contains a fraction of heavier molecules (up to 2 X 10(9)) and larger particles (up to 340 nm) which could not be found in the cytoplasmic preparations, which contained only particles smaller than 140 nm. The subparticles of beta-type are similar in both nuclear and cytoplasmic glycogen. The absorption spectra and glucose analysis after degradation with phosphorylase and debranching enzyme indicate that nuclear glycogen has a higher degree of branching, associated with a decrease in the average chain length between the branching points, and shorter external polyglucosidic chains than cytoplasmic glycogen. This is the first report about the analysis and properties of isolated nuclear glycogen.

Cellular and subcellular localization of glycogenin in chicken retina

“…The electron microscopy showed colloidal gold-labelled immunoreaction in the cytoplasm and nucleus of neuronal cells, which demonstrate the presence of glycogenin in retina neuronal cells and in consequence, the possibility of the de novo glycogen biosynthesis in these cells. The incorporation of glucose into intranuclear glycogen was described in HD33 ascites tumor cells (13) and the chemical characterization of the HD33 intranuclear polysaccharide was also reported (14). Our results show glycogenin in the nucleus of Figure 5: Immunoaold cytochemical labelling of glyc0genin in sections of the inner plexiform and optic fiber layers.…”

Metabolic properties of chicken embryonic stem cells

“…In fact, a number of studies have reported glycogen in association with the nuclear envelope, the endoplasmic reticulum, and the annulate lamellae of embryonic and transformed cells [14,[39][40][41]. Glycogen has also been reported inside the nucleus [42][43][44][45][46]. Moreover, glycogen consistently appears in the Xenopus embryo during the cleavage stage [47].…”

Nuclear assembly with lambda DNA in fractionated Xenopus egg extracts: an unexpected role for glycogen in formation of a higher order chromatin intermediate

“…A number of studies have reported glycogen in association with the nuclear envelope, the endoplasmic reticulum, and with annulate lamellae of embryonic and transformed cells (Coimbra and Lebland, 1966;Flaks, 1968;Eyal-Giladi et al, 1985;Kessel, 1989;Hubbard et al, 1990;Kessel and Beams, 1990). Glycogen has also been reported inside the nucleus (Himes and Pollister, 1962;Karasaki, 1971;Mori et al, 1970;Granzow et al, 1981;Kopun et al, 1989; for a review of intranuclear glycogen see Ferrans et al, 1975). These reports of glycogen in close apposition with nuclear envelopes and annulate lamellae may represent a structural association, or merely a circumstantial association.…”