One of the questions on my homework assignment is to explain why when radioactively tagged acetyl CoA is injected into a mouse, it partially presents itself within the mouse's glycogen stores.

 

Since acetyl CoA is not involved in glycogen synthesis at all (at least as far as I can see) how is this possible?

 

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

I'm not completely sure, but isn't Acetyl CoA created in the beginning of citric acid cycle? Like, would any radioactively tagged carbon in Acetyl CoA end up in the glycogen? Maybe I'm just thinking something completely odd, but my guess is that it has to do something with carbons...

Read up on gluconeogenesis.

An easy-to-read version here:

 

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/images/604gluconeogenesis.gif

 

and then you can reads up in more detail from hundreds of excellent biochemistry sites.