Cell Signaling

Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. …

Yeasts are single-celled organisms, but unlike bacteria, they are eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus). Cell signaling in yeast is similar to signaling in …

Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through …

Paracrine signaling allows cells to communicate with their immediate neighbors via secretion of signaling molecules. Such a signal can only trigger a …

Neurons communicate at synapses, or junctions, to excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons or target cells, such as muscles. Synapses may be …

G-protein coupled receptors are ligand binding receptors that indirectly affect changes in the cell. The actual receptor is a single polypeptide that …

Endocrine cells produce hormones to communicate with remote target cells found in other organs. The hormone reaches these distant areas using the …

Because many receptor binding ligands are hydrophilic, they do not cross the cell membrane and thus their message must be relayed to a second messenger on …

Once a ligand binds to a receptor, the signal is transmitted through the membrane and into the cytoplasm. The continuation of a signal in this manner is …

The movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of the cell is essential to maintain the electrochemical gradient in living cells. …

Enzyme-linked receptors are proteins that act as both receptor and enzyme, activating multiple intracellular signals. This is a large group of receptors …

Autocrine signaling is one of the many signaling mechanisms that function inside multicellular organisms to carry out intercellular communication. In this …

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. …

Many cellular signals are hydrophilic and therefore cannot pass through the plasma membrane. However, small or hydrophobic signaling molecules can cross …