Glycogen branching enzyme leads to increased osmotic pressure resulting in cellular swelling and death. The tissues most affected by this disease are the liver, heart, and neuromuscular system, areas with the greatest levels of glycogen accumulation. Abnormal glycogen buildup in the liver interferes with liver functioning and can result in an enlarged liver and liver disease. In muscles, the inability of cells to efficiently breakdown glycogen due to the severe reduction or absence of branching can lead to muscle weakness and atrophy. At least three mutations in the GBE1 gene have been found to cause another disease called adult polyglucosan body disease (APBD).
Glycogen debranching enzyme glucoamylase, respectively. Their active sites are selective towards the respective substrates, ensuring proper activation of GDE. Besides the active sites GDE have additional binding sites for glycogen, which are important for its recruitment to glycogen. Mapping the disease-causing mutations onto the GDE structure provided insights into glycogen storage disease type III. The official name for the gene is "amylo- α- 1,6- glucosidase, 4- α- glucanotransferase", with the official symbol AGL. AGL is an autosomal gene found on chromosome lp21. The AGL gene provides instructions for making several different versions, known as isoforms, of the glycogen debranching enzyme. These isoforms vary