Can someone tell be exactly what the difference is between glycolysis and glycogen breakdown? I mean, they both involve the catabolism of glycogen, so aren't they pretty much the same?

No, glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose into pyruvate.

 

With glycogen breakdown do you mean gluconeogenesis? It's the process whereby glycogen (a storage molecule of glucose) is converted back into glucose to meet the body's energy demands. The regulatory molecule in this case is glucagon which achieves the opposite of insulin (this initiates the conversion of glucose into glycogen).

Actually that is not gluconeogenesis, but glycogenolysis (sounds similar). Gluconeogenesis refers to the formation of glucose by basically inverting the reactions of glycolysis with three bypasses of essentially irreversible reactions.

 

Other than that, yes glycolysis is glucose to pyruvate. Glycogenolysis is from glycogen to glucose-1-P. With a mutase it is converted to glu-6-p and can enter glycolysis from there.

Edited April 22, 201114 yr by CharonY

Actually that is not gluconeogenesis, but glycogenolysis (sounds similar). Gluconeogenesis refers to the formation of glucose by basically inverting the reactions of glycolysis with three bypasses of essentially irreversible reactions.

 

Oops! Thanks though. Slight confusion.