Glycogen many respects serves as a countersignal to insulin. In response to insulin levels being below normal (when blood levels of glucose begin to fall below the normal range), glucagon is secreted in increasing amounts and stimulates both glycogenolysis (the breakdown of glycogen) and gluconeogenesis (the production of glucose from other sources). Muscle cell glycogen appears to function as an immediate reserve source of available glucose for muscle cells. Other cells that contain small amounts use it locally, as well. As muscle cells lack glucose-6-phosphatase, which is required to pass glucose into the blood, the glycogen they store is available solely
Glucose major facilitator superfamily. In the small intestine (more precisely, in the jejunum), glucose is taken up into the intestinal epithelial cells with the help of glucose transporters via a secondary active transport mechanism called sodium ion-glucose symport via the sodium/glucose cotransporter 1. The further transfer occurs on the basolateral side of the intestinal epithelial cells via the glucose transporter GLUT2, as well as their uptake into liver cells, kidney cells, cells of the islets of Langerhans, nerve cells, astrocytes and tanyocytes. Glucose enters the liver via the vena portae and is stored there as a cellular glycogen. In the liver