Time-dependent alterations in the pathway of glucose incorporation into glycogen in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes following glucose starvation.

Isolated rat hepatocytes maintained in primary culture were able to use glucose for glycogen synthesis by both direct and indirect mechanisms. Cells that had been isolated from fed animals and then cultured in the absence of glucose, but in the presence of gluconeogenic substrates such as pyruvate and amino acids, had decreased glycogen contents compared with similar cells that had been cultured in the presence of glucose. Upon reexposure to glucose, the glucose-starved cells showed time-dependent changes in the preferred pathway for the use of glucose for glycogen synthesis. These changes were noted either in the absence or presence of insulin; however, net accumulation of glycogen was observed only in the presence of the hormone.