Glucagon Glucagon Glucagon is a peptide hormone, produced by alpha cells of the pancreas. It works to raise the concentration of glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream, and is considered to be the main catabolic hormone of the body. It is also used as a medication to treat a number of health conditions. Its effect is opposite to that of insulin, which lowers the extracellular glucose. The pancreas releases glucagon when the concentration of insulin (and indirectly glucose) in the bloodstream falls too low. Glucagon causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose, which is released into the bloodstream.
Glucose 6-phosphatase variety of muscles across the animal kingdom, albeit at very low concentrations. Thus, the glycogen that muscles store is not usually available for the rest of the body's cells because glucose-6-phosphate cannot cross the sarcolemma unless it is dephosphorylated. The enzyme plays an important role during periods of fasting and when glucose levels are low. It has been shown that starvation and diabetes induces a 2-3-fold increase in glucose-6-phosphatase activity in the liver. Glc 6-Pase activity also increases dramatically at birth when an organism becomes independent of the mothers source of glucose. The human Glc 6-Pase gene contains five exons