CELL TO CELL COMMUNICATION.

1. What are the modes of cell to cell signaling ? Explain

it.
Modes of cell-cell signaling :
I.Direct cell-cell signaling:
Plays a critical role in regulating the behavior of cells in animal
tissue. Forexample,
the integrins and cadherins
a. Cell Junction: The direct transfer of small
molecules through a gap junction
b. Cell Recognition: The detection of a
membrane protein on the surface of one cell
by a receptor on a second cell

II.Signaling by secreted molecules

a. Endocrine signaling: The signaling molecules (hormones)
are secreted by specialized endocrine cells and carried
through the circulation to act on target cells at distant body
sites.
Example: Steroid hormone estrogen, which is produced
by the ovary and stimulates development and
maintenance of the female reproductive system and
secondary sex characteristics.
b. Paracrine signaling: A molecule released by one cell acts
on neighboring target cell ( only short distance )

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 Example: Neurotransmitter in carrying signals
between nerve cells at a synapse, growth factors,
consist of compound that stimulate nearby target cells to
grow and divide.
c. Autocrine signaling: Response of cells of vertebrae
immune system to foreign antigen
Example: Certain types of T lymphocytes respond to
antigenic stimulation by synthesizing a growth factor
that drives their own proliferation, thereby increasing
the number of responsive T lymphocytes and amplifying
the immune response (3)

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2. What are the processes when a cell encounters a signaling
molecule ? ( Campbell P255 – 256 )
I. Reception.
Reception is the target cell’s detection of a signaling
molecule coming from outside the cell.
So Reception is a signal molecule binds to a receptor
protein, causing it to
change shape

II. Transduction.
The binding of the signaling molecule changes the
receptor protein in some way, initiating the process of
transduction. The transduction stage converts the
signal to a form that can bring about a specific cellular
response.
Transduction sometimes occur in a single step, but
more often require a sequence of changes in a series of
different molecules.
So, transduction is Cascades of molecular interactions
relay signals from receptors to target molecules in the
cell.

III. Response.

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 In the third stage of cell signaling, the transduced signal
finally triggers a specific cellular. The response may be
almost any imaginable cellular activity, such as catalysis
by an enzyme { or example glycogen phosphorylase},
rearrangement of the cytoskeleton , or activation a
specific genes in the nucleus.
So, Response is : Cell signaling leads to regulation of
transcription or cytoplasmic activities.

3. What are the characteristic of a good signal ?:

1. Relatively small and able to travel from the site of manufacture
to the target site
2. Can be made or altered relatively quickly
3. Must have capacity to be turned off again (3)

4. What are the type of signaling molecules?

1. Steroids Hormones and the Nuclear Receptor Superfamily;
derived from cholesterol; regulate sexual differentiation,
pregnancy, carbohydrate metabolism, and excretion of sodium
and potassium ions.
Example: Testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, corticosteroid
(glucocorticoid and the mineralocorticoid)
2. Gases, such as Nitric Oxide and Carbon Monoxide: A major
paracrine signaling molecule in the nervous, immune, and
circulatory system
3. Amino Acids and amino acid derivatives. Examples include
glutamate, glycine, actylcholine, epinephrine, dopamine, and

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 thyroid hormone. These molecules act as neurotransmitters and
hormones
4. Eicosanoids which are non polar molecules containing 20
carbons that are derived from a fatty acid named arachidonic
acid. Eicosanoids regulate a variety of processes including pain,
inflammation, blood pressure and blood clotting.
Example: Prostaglandins, prostacyclin, tromboxanes and
leukotrienes
5. A wide variety of polypeptides and protein

5. What is the process needed for cell communication ?

( Gerald P617 )
The process is called cell signaling. Cell signaling make it
possible for cells to respond in an appropriate manner to a
specific environment stimulus.

6. In order to communicate, cell needs to have a signal

transduction. What is a signal transduction ? ( Gerald P620 )
The overall process in which information carried by
extracellular messenger molecules is translated into changes
that occur inside a cell.

7. What is Extra Cellular Messenger Molecule ? ( Gerald

P618 )
ECMM is a molecule that can travel a short distance and
stimulate cells that are in close proximity to the origin of the
message or they can travel throughout the body, potentially
stimulating cells that are far away from the source

8. In order to receive a signal, cell needs to have a ligand.

What is a ligand ? ( Gerald P618 ) A molecule that binds to
the receptor.

9. What is a receptor ? ( Gerald P618 )

Receptor is : a part of integral membrane protein that can

bind specific

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 substances. Cells can only respond to an extracellular message
if they express
receptors that specifically recognize and bind that particular
messenger molecule . OR
a site in target cell that bind a signaling molecule to produce
a spesific
response

10. What are types of receptors ? ( Gerald P621 )

a. Cell surface receptors

b. Intracellular receptors

11. What are the types of cell surface receptor ? :

1. G Protein Coupled Receptors

2. Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases

3. Ion channel receptors

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12. What are the types of intracellular receptor ?
1, Cytoplasmic receptor ( Ex : Steroid hormone receptor )
2, Nuclear receptor

13. How are the cellular responses be terminated ? ( Gerald

P624 , 640 )
Termination of the response :
1.Dezensitization ( G P624 ) : a process that block active
receptor from turning on
Additional G protein
2. internalization receptor and degradation ( G 640 )