Cell Communication

Chapter 9
Cell “Talk”
How Do Cells Know What’s Going on Around Them?

(cell-surface receptor)

• Signal transduction pathway converts the information

in the signal into a cellular response
 Different Types of Signaling

1. Direct contact (contact-dependent)

2. Paracrine signaling

3. Endocrine signaling

4. Synaptic signaling

5. Autocrine signaling
 Direct Contact (Contact-Dependent)
• When molecule on the
plasma membrane of one cell
contacts the receptor
molecule on an adjacent cell

• Gap junctions

• Important in early
development
Paracrine Signaling

• Signaling cell releases short-lived

ligands that affect nearby target
cells

• Involved in wound healing

Endocrine Signaling
• Signaling cell releases long-lived ligands
(hormones) that travel through circulatory
system to induce changes in several distant
target cells

• Both animals and plants use this mechanism

extensively
Synaptic Signaling

• Nerve cell releases

short-lived ligands
(neurotransmitters),
into the gap (synapse),
which forms between
nerve and target cells
 Autocrine Signaling

• Cell sends signals to itself

- T cells of immune system

How Do Intracellular Receptors Function?
Nitric Oxide Signaling
 Viagra

Inhibited by Viagra
Nerve
pho
sph
GMP di eo
ste
ras
e
GTP guanylyl cyclase
cGMP
(guanosine (cyclic guanosine
triphosphate) monophosphate)
Endothelial cell

Causes smooth
muscle cells to relax
 Membrane (Cell-Surface) Receptors

1. Chemically-gated ion channels (ligand-gated ion

channels)

2. Enzymatic receptors

3. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)

 Chemically-Gated Ion Channels (Ligand-
Gated Ion Channels)
• large and/or hydrophilic ligands

• Open to let specific ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, or

Cl- to pass through the membrane in response to
the binding of a ligand (neurotransmitter)
 Enzymatic (Enzyme-Linked) Receptors

• Have enzymatic activity

- almost all are protein kinases, which

phosphorylate themselves and/or other proteins
 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs)
• Influence cell cycle, cell migration, cell metabolism,
and cell proliferation
(growth factors or hormones)
 Insulin Receptor

• Belongs to RTKs

• Is activated by insulin,
which lowers blood
glucose

17
 Kinases vs. Phosphatases
Big Players in Membrane Receptor Signaling

• Phosphatases – enzymes that dephosphorylate

phosphorylated proteins
 Kinase Cascades − Making a Signal “Bigger”
• Series of protein kinases that phosphorylate each other in
succession

(MAP kinase kinase kinase)

- MAP (mitogen-activated
protein) kinases amplify
the signal because a few
signal molecules can
elicit a large cell
response
The Ras-MAP Kinase
Pathway

• Ras – protein that

stimulates cell division

- links RTKs to MAP

kinase cascade
 G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs)

• G protein is active when its  subunit is bound to GTP

and inactive when it is bound to GDP

• G protein activates an effector protein (usually

an enzyme)
 When Effector Protein, Adenylyl Cyclase
is Activated…

• Adenylyl cyclase
produces cyclic AMP
(cAMP) = 2nd
messenger


• cAMP binds to and

activates the enzyme
protein kinase A
(PKA)

• PKA phosphorylates specific proteins

 cAMP Effects

• A single ligand (adrenaline) can lead to different effects in

different cells because different response proteins are
phosphorylated in different cells
When Effector Protein, Phospholipase C is Activated…
• Phospholipase C cleaves
phosphatidylinositol-4,5,
-biphosphate (PIP2) to
inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate
(IP3) and diacylglycerol
(DAG)

- both act as 2nd

messengers

• IP3 opens Ca2+ channel

and releases Ca2+ (2nd
messenger)

• Ca2+ binds to Ca2+-binding

proteins (calmodulin or
PKC)
Phospholipase C Effects
 Different Ligands… Same Effect

• Different receptors
can produce the same
2nd messengers

• Hormones glucagon
and epinephrine can
both stimulate liver
cells to breakdown
glycogen to glucose

– both act by same

signal transduction
pathway