Unit 3 Test Flashcards
Which organelle is key to cell signaling?
The plasma membrane
What directly connects the cytoplasm in adjacent cells?
Gap junctions in animal cells and plasmodesmata in animal cells
What are the types of Local and long distance cell signaling?
Local
- Junctions(cell to cell)
- Paracrine
- Synaptic
Long distance
1. Endocrine/hormone signaling
What is paracrine signaling?
A secreting cell acts on nearby target cells by discharging molecules of a local regulator into the extracellular fluid. This secreting cell has a vesicle bond to the membrane and conduct exocytosis
What is synaptic signaling? Where does this occur?
An electric signal causes a nerve cell to release neurotransmitter molecules into a synapse(gap between cells), stimulating a target cell. This occurs in the nervous system of animals
What is long distance signaling?
Specialized endocrine cells secret hormones into body fluids, often blood. Hormones reach virtually all body cells but are bound by only some cells
What are local regulators? Where do they come from?
Messenger molecules secreted by a signaling cell in the process of paracrine signaling
What are growth factors?
A class of local regulators that stimulate nearby target cells to grow and divide(paracrine signaling)
What 3 processes do cells that are receiving signals undergo?
- Reception: The target cell’s detection of a signaling molecule coming from outside the cell. A chemical signal is “detected” when the signaling molecule binds to the receptor protein located on or in the cell
- Transduction: A series of steps that converts the signal to a form that can bring about a specific cellular response
- Response: The transduced signal triggers a specific cellular response
What is a ligand?
The signal molecule binding to a receptor
What happens when a ligand bonds to a receptor cell?
The receptor usually changes shape and is activated by this shape change?
What are most signal receptors? their ligands?
Plasma membrane proteins, their ligands are generally water soluble and too large to pass freely through the plasma membrane
What are the two main types of membrane receptors?
- G protein-coupled receptors
2. Ligand-gated ion channels
What is a G protein?
A type of protein that bonds to the energy-rich molecule called GTP and a GPCR. When the GPCR is activated by a ligand, the G Protein(bound to the GTP too) goes and activates an inactive enzyme
What are G protein-coupled receptors?
plasma membrane receptors that are activated by G proteins bonding to a GTP molecule
What is a signal transduction pathway?
A sequence of changes in a series of different molecules during transduction
What are relay molecules?
The molecules(mostly proteins) in the signal transduction pathway
What is a ligand-gated ion channel? Where are these used a lot?
A receptor that acts as a “gate” for specific ions when it changes shape. It opens/closes when a signal molecule binds as a ligand. This may trigger and electric signal and is essential for the nervous system.
What is epinephrine?
A hormone that circulates through the blood, only reacting to certain cells. Initiates “fight or flight” response
What are intracellular receptors and how are they accessed?
Intracellular receptors are receptor proteins found in the cytosol or nucleus, and small or hydrophobic chemical messengers that can readily cross the membrane can activate the receptors
What are examples of intracellular receptors?
Steroid and thyroid hormones of animals and nitric oxide in plants and animals
Why are multistep pathways used in transduction?
They can amplify a signal, a few molecules can produce a large response. It provides more opportunities for coordination and regulation of cellular response than simpler systems do
What is the purpose of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation?
To regulate protein activity
What are protein kinases?
an enzyme that performs phosphorylation, they transfer phosphates from ATP to protein