Glycogen grams of glucose are present in the blood of humans at all times; in fasted individuals, blood glucose is maintained constant at this level at the expense of glycogen stores in the liver and skeletal muscle. Glycogen stores in skeletal muscle serve as a form of energy storage for the muscle itself; however, the breakdown of muscle glycogen impedes muscle glucose uptake, thereby increasing the amount of blood glucose available for use in other tissues. Liver glycogen stores serve as a store of glucose for use throughout the body, particularly the central nervous system. The human brain consumes approximately 60%
Glycogen phosphorylase conformation from a tense to a relaxed form. This relaxed form has similar enzymatic properties as the phosphorylated enzyme. An increase in ATP concentration opposes this activation by displacing AMP from the nucleotide binding site, indicating sufficient energy stores. Upon eating a meal, there is a release of insulin, signaling glucose availability in the blood. Insulin indirectly activates PP-1 and phosphodiesterase. The PP-1 directly dephosphorylates glycogen phosphorylase a, reforming the inactive glycogen phosphorylase b. The phosphodiesterase converts cAMP to AMP. This activity removes the second messenger (generated by glucagon and epinephrine) and inhibits PKA. In this manner, PKA can no