CH 11 vocabulary

Question 1

Apoptosis

Answer 1

the death of cells which occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development.

Question 2

Gap Junctions

Answer 2

specialized intercellular connection between a multitude of animal cell-types that directly connect the cytoplasm of two cells, which allows various molecules, ions and electrical impulses to directly pass through a regulated gate between cells.

Question 3

Plasmodesmata

Answer 3

a narrow thread of cytoplasm that passes through the cell walls of adjacent plant cells and allows communication between them.

Question 4

Paracrine signaling

Answer 4

a form of cell signaling or cell-to-cell communication in which a cell produces a signal to induce changes in nearby cells, altering the behaviour of those cells.

Question 5

Synaptic signaling

Answer 5

similar to paracrine signaling but there is a special structure called the synapse between the cell originating and the cell receiving the signal, only occurs between cells with the synapse

Question 6

Endocrine signaling

Answer 6

signals are produced by specialized cells and released into the bloodstream, which carries them to target cells in distant parts of the body.

Question 7

Reception

Answer 7

the target cell’s detection of a signal via binding of a signaling molecule, or ligand.

Question 8

Transduction

Answer 8

the process by which foreign DNA is introduced into a cell by a virus or viral vector.

Question 9

Response

Answer 9

change in an organism (an action) resulting from a stimulus (reflex)

Question 10

Signal transduction pathway

Answer 10

involves the binding of extracellular signaling molecules and ligands to receptors located on the cell surface or inside the cell that trigger events inside the cell, to invoke a response. The response can then alter the cell’s metabolism, shape, and gene expression

Question 11

Ligand

Answer 11

a molecule that binds to another (usually larger) molecule

Question 12

G protein-coupled receptors

Answer 12

the largest and most diverse group of membrane receptors in eukaryotes. These cell surface receptors act like an inbox for messages in the form of light energy, peptides, lipids, sugars, and proteins

Question 13

G protein

Answer 13

a family of proteins that act as molecular switches inside cells, and are involved in transmitting signals from a variety of stimuli outside a cell to its interior

Question 14

Receptor tyrosine kinase

Answer 14

the high-affinity cell surface receptors for many polypeptide growth factors, cytokines, and hormones.

Question 15

Ligand gated ion channel

Answer 15

a group of transmembrane ion-channel proteins which open to allow ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, and/or Cl− to pass through the membrane in response to the binding of a chemical messenger

Question 16

Protein phosphatase

Answer 16

an enzyme that removes a phosphate group from a protein

Question 17

Phosphorylation cascade

Answer 17

a sequence of signaling pathway events where one enzyme phosphorylates another, causing a chain reaction leading to the phosphorylation of thousands of proteins.

Question 18

Protein kinase

Answer 18

a kinase which selectively modifies other proteins by covalently adding phosphates to them (phosphorylation) as opposed to kinases which modify lipids, carbohydrates, or other molecules

Question 19

Receptor protein

Answer 19

protein imbedded in the cell membrane, meant to recognize and bind to specific substances outside of the cell.

Question 20

Second messengers

Answer 20

molecules that relay signals received at receptors on the cell surface to target molecules in the cytosol and/or nucleus.

Question 21

Cyclic AMP (cAMP)

Answer 21

a second messenger important in many biological processes

Question 22

Adenylyl cyclase

Answer 22

the enzyme that synthesizes cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cyclic AMP from ATP. Cyclic AMP functions as a second messenger to relay extracellular signals to intracellular effectors, particularly protein kinase A.

Question 23

Signal amplification

Answer 23

produces a visual color that can be detected by a smartphone device at an extremely low concentration with high sensitivity