William J. Whelan F.R.S.

Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Ph.D. (1948) D.Sc. (1955) University of Birmingham, UK

Biogenesis of Energy-Reserve Polysaccharides
Carbohydrates and the Glycemic Index

Tel: (305) 243-6267, Fax: (305) 243-5665

wwhelan@miami.edu

Our laboratory is interested in multiple aspects of the mechanism of the biogenesis of energy-reserve polysaccharides, principally glycogen and starch. These investigations have opened a new chapter in polysaccharide metabolism because they reveal the existence of mechanisms of control of the amounts and location of the polysaccharide within the cell that have the potential to override the much better understood systems of regulation of enzyme activity by covalent modification, of which glycogen is the classical example, involving endocrine control via cyclic AMP, protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation.

Proposed pathway for glycogen biosynthesis in skeletal muscle.

We discovered a covalently bound protein in glycogen, which we have named glycogenin, and on which glycogen is synthesized via a unique carbohydrate-to-protein linkage involving the hydroxyl group of a tyrosine residue.  Glycogenin is autocatalytic, and adds an average of eight glucose residues to itself to become the primer for the synthesis of a newly discovered, stable glycogen intermediate, proglycogen, the amount of which varies from trace proportions (liver) to as much as 50% by weight of the total glycogen (heart).  Glycogenin and proglycogen represent key points in glycogen metabolism. Aberrations in glycogenin expression and activity could have a major impact on glycogen storage. This is particularly relevant to Type 2 diabetes where muscle glycogen storage is reduced to half. 

            Our laboratory’s second mission is to learn more about the digestion of carbohydrates in humans. We have shown that there are serious errors in the published carbohydrate caloric contents of beers and wines.  The glycemic index is a measure of insulin release in the blood following an intake of digestible carbohydrate.  It is used by dieticians in recommending weight-reduction diets.  With human volunteers we are investigating the effects on the glycemic index of the rate at which digestible carbohydrate is eaten or drunk. 

Representative Publications

1.    J. Lomako, W.M. Lomako and W.J. Whelan, Glycogenin: The Primer for Mammalian and Yeast Glycogen Synthesis Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1673 (2004) 45-55

2.     W.J. Whelan, H.L. Kornberg, B.A. Stone, E.C. Slater, P. Campbell, C.L. Tsou, F. Vena, U.Z. Littauer, B.F. Clark, 54 years of International Congresses of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology IUBMB Life 55 (2003) 182-91

3.     W.J. Whelan, J.T. Baker horrors IUBMB Life, 57 (2005) 52

4.     W.J.Whelan, Vitamin B4 IUBMB Life 57 (2005) 125

5.     W.J. Whelan, The wars of the carbohydrates. Part IV. A little learning IUBMB Life, 58 (2006) 619

Honors and Professional Activities

Secretary General, Federation of European Biochemical Societies, 1965-67; Pan-American Association of Biochemical Societies, 1969-72; International Union of Biochemistry, 1973-83; President, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1997-2000.

Editor-in-Chief, TIBS 1975-78, BioEssays 1983-88, The FASEB Journal, 1986-1996, IUBMB Life, 2000-

Member and Chairman, NIH Physiological Chemistry Study Section 1970-75

Honorary D.Sc., La Trobe University, 1997

Honorary Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1988

Honorary Member, The Biochemical Society, UK 1993, Royal College
of  Physicians, 1985, Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2001

Fellow of the Royal Society of London, 1992

Alsberg Medal,1967;  Ciba Medal, 1969;Saare Medal , 1979;
FEBS Millenium Medal,2000

Wood/Whelan Fellowships of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1986

Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, University of Miami, 2006