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-branching enzyme deficiency known as glycogen synthase. This bond may be broken by amylase when the body wishes to break down glycogen into glucose for energy. Glycogen branching enzyme is responsible for the required α-1,6-glycosidic bonds needed to start a branch off of these linear chains. These branches are important, as they provide additional "free ends" for linear chains of α-1,4-glycosidic bonds, which can then be broken down by amylase. This allows for glucose to be removed at a faster rate than if all glucose molecules were in a single chain with only two free ends on which amylase could attach. GBED is