Main description:

This book aims to provide a state-of-the-art summary of what is currently known about brain glycogen metabolism, detailing the recent advances in our understanding of why glycogen is so critical for normal brain function. The role of glycogen in cellular neurophysiology remains largely unclear and its specific contribution to the energy demand of brain cells is still elusive.Glycogen is the sole cerebral glucose reserve and is emerging as a fundamental component of brain energy metabolism. Pharmacological or genetic manipulation of glycogen metabolism in the brain impairs memory formation and increases susceptibility to epileptic seizures and cortical spreading depression. Glycogen is also directly implicated in abnormal neuronal excitability and mental retardation that characterize brain disorders like Lafora disease and Pompe disease.

Contents:

1. Introduction or Preface

Mauro DiNuzzo, Center for Basic and Translational Neuroscience, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Arne Schousboe, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2. Structure and regulation of glycogen synthase in the brain

Peter J. Roach, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Bartholomew A. Pederson, Indiana University School of Medicine-Muncie, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA

3. Structure and regulation of glycogen phosphorylase in the brain

Cecile Mathieu, Fernando Rodrigues Lima, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Unite BFA, CNRS UMR 8251, Universite Paris Diderot, France

4. Regional distribution of glycogen in the brain

Hajime Hirase, Laboratory for Neuron-Glia Circuitry, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama, Japan

5. Metabolism of glycogen in the brain white matter

Angus M. Brown, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Bruce R. Ransom, Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

6. Metabolism of glycogen in the brain gray matter

Gerald A. Dienel, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Nancy F. Cruz, Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

7. Contribution of glycogen to brain energy metabolism

Douglas L. Rothman, Robert G. Shulman, Magnetic Resonance Research Center and Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

Ralf Dringen, Centre for Biomolecular Interactions Bremen, Faculty 2 (Biology/Chemistry), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Bernd Hamprecht, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Department of Neurogenetics, Gottingen, Germany

8. Brain glycogen, compartmentation and ion/transmitter homeostasis

Anne B. Walls, Lasse K. Bak, Helle S. Waagepetersen, Arne Schousboe, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mauro DiNuzzo, Maiken Nedergaard, Center for Basic and Translational Neuroscience, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

9. Role of brain glycogen in learning and memory

Leif Hertz, Laboratory of Brain Metabolic Diseases, Institute of Metabolic Disease Research and Drug Development, China Medical University, Shenyang, China

Cristina M. Alberini, Center for Neural Science, New York University New York, NY, USA

Marie E. Gibbs, Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville VIC, Australia

10. Brain glycogen content and turnover during sleep-wake cycle

Jean-Marie Petit, Pierre J. Magistretti, Igor Allaman, Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

Paul Franken, Norman F. Rubya, H. Craig Heller, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

11. Brain glycogen metabolism in response to exercise

Takashi Matsui, Hideaki Soya, Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Institute for Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

12. Brain glycogen metabolism in neuronal excitability and epilepsy

Tobias Hevor, Jean-Francois Cloix, Institut de Chimie Organique et Analytique, Rue de Chartres, Universite d'Orleans, Orleans CEDEX 2, France

Jordi Valles-Ortega, Jordi Duran, Joan J. Guinovart, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain

Juan C. Lopez-Ramos, Jose M. Delgado-Garcia, Division of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain

13. Brain glycogen metabolism in hypoglycemia and diabetes

Rolf Gruetter, Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LIFMET), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

Gulin Oz, Elisabeth R. Seaquist, Department of Radiology, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Robert S. Sherwin, Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Raymond A. Swanson, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA