Cell Communication Cells communicate with each other by chemical signals Mechanisms: cells receive, process, and respond

to signals Cell-cell recognition - cell communication via direct contact between membrane-bound cell-surface molecules Three stages of Cell Signaling: 1. Reception - target cell detects signaling molecule from outside the cell - signaling molecule binds to a receptor protein in the target cell 2. TRANSDUCTION - initiated by binding of the signaling molecule - converts the signal to a specific cellular response Cell Signaling -> Signal Transduction Pathway) - the series of steps or the process by which a signal is converted to a specific response - same details of signal transduction in yeast and in mammals (evolution of early versions of cell-signaling mechanisms; from prokaryotes and eukaryotes to multicellular descendants) 3. Response - specific cellular response is triggered by the transducer signal - in any forms of activities such as: - catalysis - rearrangement of cytoskeleton - activation of specific genes TRANSDUCTION Proteins - molecules that relay the signal from receptor to response Phosphorylation - way of activating a protein through activation of receptor tyrosine kinases Protein kinase - general name for enzyme that transfers phosphate groups from ATP to protein Phosphorylation/ Dephosphorylation - Molecular switch in the cell turning activities on or off Makes use of protein phosphatases that rapidly removes phosphate groups and thus inactivating protein kinases; it also turns off the signal transduction pathway when the signal is no longer present; it makes protein kinases available for reuse enabling the cell to respond again to a signal. Phosphorylation Cascade - A relay molecule activates the inactivate protein kinase 1 through the phosphate group transferred and then this will undergo dephosphorylation. Then this will in turn transfer

the phosphate group activating protein kinase 2 and the process goes on until protein kinase 3 activates the protein for the response