A Summary of Cell Communication

Receptors are protein molecules inside the target cell or on its surface that receive a chemical signal. Chemical signals are released by signaling cells in the form of small, usually volatile or soluble molecules called ligands. A ligand is a molecule that binds another specific molecule, in some cases, delivering a signal in the process. Ligands can thus be thought of as signaling molecules. Ligands and receptors exist in several varieties; however, a specific ligand will have a specific receptor that typically binds only that ligand.

There are two basic types of receptors: internal receptors and cell surface receptors.

• Internal receptors are found in the cytoplasm of the cell and respond to ligands that cross the cell membrane into the cell. These receptors can have a direct effect on protein production by binding directly to the DNA.
• Cell-surface receptors are found on the cell membrane. They bind to ligands that do not cross the cell membrane. After the ligand binds, the receptor responds in some way. One response is to open a channel to allow ions to pass through the membrane. A second response is to activate an enzyme that sets off a response inside the cell. A third response is to activate a protein which is not an enzyme, but which can affect other cell components.

There are several different types of ligands.

• Small hydrophobic ligands can pass directly through the cell membrane. They typically interact with internal receptors. Steroid hormones are an example.
• Water soluble hydrophilic ligands can not pass directly through the cell membrane. They typically interact with cell-surface receptors. Peptide (protein) hormones are an example.
• There are a variety of other ligands such as nitric oxide (NO) gas. Nitroglycerin and Viagra affect the NO pathway.

Once a ligand binds to a receptor, the signal is transmitted through the membrane and into the cytoplasm. The continuation of a signal in this manner (from the outside of the cell to the inside of the cell using receptors) is called signal transduction. Signal transduction only occurs with cell-surface receptors because internal receptors are able to interact directly with DNA in the nucleus to initiate protein synthesis. The term signal transduction is often used in concert with the term signal cascade. A signal cascade is when a reaction contains many steps for it to be complete. For example, “enzyme a” would create a product that was used as the substrate for “enzyme b” whose product would be used as the substrate for another enzyme, “enzyme c”, and so on. A signal cascade can be activated by a ligand binding to a cell surface receptor, thus signal transduction can lead to a signal cascade, or vice versa. The term signal pathway refers to the specific steps a cell needs to complete to respond to a signal, such as the steps a cell takes to create insulin or the enzyme amylase.  Each signal pathway is specific for the type of cells involved and the types of signals received. Studying signal pathways is important medically to figure out how cells respond to medication or disease. Many chemical reactions in signaling involve the addition of a phosphate group to a molecule, which is called phosphorylation. This is often what happens when ATP is used, it phosphorylates a molecule to activate it. The inverse is called dephosphorylation, and that is when the phosphate group is removed from a molecule.

Signal transduction pathways can be extremely complicated and involve large numbers of enzymes and other proteins. These pathways can help amplify a signal received by one receptor. There can also be different effects from the same ligand in different cell types due to different proteins present in different types of cells.

• Kinases are a type of enzyme that adds a phosphate group to another molecule (including other proteins). This is called phosphorylation. Phosphorylation can activate or deactivate other proteins.
• Second messengers are small molecules that help to spread a signal through the cytoplasm after a ligand binds to a receptor. They do this by altering the behavior of certain cellular proteins. Some examples of second messengers are cAMP (a modified version of AMP, which is related to ATP but only contains one phosphate) and calcium ions.

There are several categories of cellular responses to signals.

• Changes in gene expression: an increase or decrease in the production of a protein produced by a specific gene.
• An increase in cellular metabolism: the conversion of glucose to glycogen (and back) can be regulated depending on the energy needs of the cell.
• Cell growth: cells do not normally divide unless they are stimulated by signals from other cells.
• Cell death: apoptosis is controlled cell death; cells can be stimulated die if they are abnormal, infected with a bacteria or virus, or during specific parts of development (for example, to separate the fingers).

Stopping cell signaling pathways at the right time is just as important as starting them correctly. Tumors often display abnormal responses to cell signaling pathways.