Glycogen for internal use and is not shared with other cells. This is in contrast to liver cells, which, on demand, readily do break down their stored glycogen into glucose and send it through the blood stream as fuel for other organs. Glycogen was discovered by Claude Bernard. His experiments showed that the liver contained a substance that could give rise to reducing sugar by the action of a "ferment" in the liver. By 1857, he described the isolation of a substance he called ""la matière glycogène"", or "sugar-forming substance". Soon after the discovery of glycogen in the liver, A. Sanson
Glycogen phosphorylase Glycogen phosphorylase Glycogen phosphorylase is one of the phosphorylase enzymes (). Glycogen phosphorylase catalyzes the rate-limiting step in glycogenolysis in animals by releasing glucose-1-phosphate from the terminal alpha-1,4-glycosidic bond. Glycogen phosphorylase is also studied as a model protein regulated by both reversible phosphorylation and allosteric effects. Glycogen phosphorylase breaks up glycogen into glucose subunits (see also figure below): (α-1,4 glycogen chain) + Pi ⇌ (α-1,4 glycogen chain) + α-D-glucose-1-phosphate. Glycogen is left with one fewer glucose molecule, and the free glucose molecule is in the form of glucose-1-phosphate. In order to be used for metabolism, it must be converted to