Question

Question: What is the free energy source for glycogen synthesis?

Short answer

Answer: UTP (Uridine triphosphate) is the free source for glycogen synthesis.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of UTP.

UTP is defined as a pyrimidineribonucleoside 5'-triphosphate which has uracil as the nucleobase

UTP in glycogen synthesis.

A single molecule of UTP is cleaved to UDP for each glucose residue incorporated into glycogen.

$Glycogen+Glucose-1-Phosphate+UTP\to Glycogen+UDP+2Pi$

The amount of UTP is fulfilled through a phosphoryl group transfer reaction mediated by nucleoside diphosphate kinase. The reaction involves the transfer of the phosphate group from adenine triphosphate (ATP) to uridinediphosphate (UDP) to produce UTP.

$UDP+ATP\underset{Nucleosidediphosphatekinase}{\to }UTP+ADP$