1H NMR visibility of mammalian glycogen in solution.

High-resolution 1H NMR spectra of rabbit liver glycogen in 2H2O were obtained at 500 MHz, and several resonances were assigned by comparison with the chemical shifts of alpha-linked diglucose molecules. The NMR relaxation times T1 and T2 of glycogen in 2H2O were determined to be 1.1 and 0.029 s, respectively. The measured natural linewidth of the carbon-1 proton (12 +/- 2 Hz) is in excellent agreement with that calculated from T2. The visibility measurements made by digesting glycogen and comparing glucose and glycogen signal intensities demonstrate that in spite of the very high molecular weight, all of the proton nuclei in glycogen contribute to the NMR spectrum. The result is not unexpected, since 100% NMR visibility was previously observed from the carbon nuclei of glycogen, due to the rapid intramolecular motions.