Glycogen and glucose remain plentiful. In this postprandial or "fed" state, the liver takes in more glucose from the blood than it releases. After a meal has been digested and glucose levels begin to fall, insulin secretion is reduced, and glycogen synthesis stops. When it is needed for energy, glycogen is broken down and converted again to glucose. Glycogen phosphorylase is the primary enzyme of glycogen breakdown. For the next 8–12 hours, glucose derived from liver glycogen is the primary source of blood glucose used by the rest of the body for fuel. Glucagon, another hormone produced by the pancreas, in
Glycogen branching enzyme Glycogen branching enzyme 1,4-alpha-glucan-branching enzyme, also known as brancher enzyme or glycogen-branching enzyme is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the "GBE1" gene. Glycogen branching enzyme is an enzyme that adds branches to the growing glycogen molecule during the synthesis of glycogen, a storage form of glucose. More specifically, during glycogen synthesis, a glucose 1-phosphate molecule reacts with uridine triphosphate (UTP) to become UDP-glucose, an activated form of glucose. The activated glucosyl unit of UDP-glucose is then transferred to the hydroxyl group at the C-4 of a terminal residue of glycogen to form an α-1,4-glycosidic linkage, a reaction