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PYGL (glycogen phosphorylase, liver form) is an enzyme that catalyzes
glycogen breakdown to glucose-1-phosphate. PYGL is commonly upregulated in cancer,
particularly under hypoxic conditions, where it mobilizes stored glycogen to support
glycolysis, pentose-phosphate-pathway activity, ATP production and redox homeostasis.
Increased PYGL can promote tumour-cell proliferation, survival, migration, invasion
and metastasis. Its inhibition or downregulation causes glycogen accumulation,
metabolic and replication stress, reduced proliferation and, in some cancer models,
senescence or apoptosis. The typical cancer-associated direction is up,
while the desired anticancer modulation is down. PYGL is
separate from the related isoenzymes PYGB and PYGM.
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