Lc 10. Cell Communication Flashcards
What are the types of cell signaling?
Local signaling and long distance signaling.
What is local signaling?
Includes direct contact, paracrine signaling, and synaptic signaling.
What is direct contact in cell signaling?
Cell-cell interaction.
What is paracrine signaling?
Diffusion to a nearby target cell.
What is synaptic signaling?
Chemical signals released into the synapse.
What is long distance signaling?
Endocrine signaling, where chemical messengers are transported by blood.
What is the simplest communication in cell signaling?
Signal reception and cellular response.
What is an intracellular receptor?
Located in the cytosol or nucleus.
What are ligands?
Small, hydrophobic molecules that diffuse across the plasma membrane.
What is an example of a ligand?
Aldosterone receptor.
What are transcription factors?
Bound receptors that activate or repress specific genes.
What is quorum sensing?
Bacterial communication via secreted signaling molecules (autoinducers).
What are the requirements for quorum sensing?
Signaling molecules (autoinducers or pheromones) and a specific receptor.
How is cell signaling usually more complicated?
It requires converting an extracellular signal into an intracellular signal.
What is the role of proteins in cell signaling?
More proteins allow for signal amplification and a robust cellular response.
What happens during the ‘fight or flight’ response?
Epinephrine increases metabolism.
What is the role of epinephrine in cell signaling?
Acts as a signal in the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) pathway.
What does adenylate cyclase do?
Produces cAMP from ATP, acting as a second messenger.
What are the four aspects of signal regulation?
Amplification, specificity, efficiency, and termination of the signal.
What contributes to the specificity of cell signaling?
Different proteins in different kinds of cells.
What are scaffolding proteins?
Large relay proteins that increase signal transduction efficiency.
What is the importance of signal termination?
Inactivation mechanisms prevent continuous signaling.
What is Dictyostelium discoidium?
A social amoeba that behaves individually when food is plentiful and cooperates to form a fruiting body when food is scarce.
