2 Flashcards
What are receptors made of?
proteins
Since receptors are proteins, do ligands have to be proteins as well?
no
When is a protein said to be a target protein
when it’s activation results in a change in a cell- function, status, gene expression or shape
How many signalling proteins interact with target proteins?
one or more
What does a reaction cascade lead to?
the cascade leading to activation/ inhibition of target protein can either come as modification or interaction with the protein
once target protein is acted upon, this often leads to a feedback reaction that ges to the beginning of the signal
the receptors are often inhibited either by internalization or a change in the shape of the receptor
thus a signal not only acts on a target receptor but on a receptor itself
What are the 2 main classes of signal receptor pathways? What do they depend on?
- Pathways with cell-surface receptors- hydrophilic signal molecule + cell surface receptor
- Pathways with intracellular receptors- hydrophobic signal molecule + intracellular receptor
How many domains dose a cell surface receptor have? WHat are they and their functions?
3 domains
- extracellular domain which interacts with the signal
- cytoplasmic domain is the one that initiate the change inside the cell
- the portion within the bilipid bilayer is the transmembrane domain
Describe structure of transmembrane domain
- as the lipid biayer is lipid, the transmembrane portion is made of hydrophobic AA
each pass through the membrane is usually 20-24 AA in length- has several passes
hydrophobic AA that form transmembrane domain are called a-helixes
Describe structure of extracellular domain
- extracellular domain typically has disulphide bonds and CHO attachments that give it 3d structure to which hormones can come and interact
- extracellular domain is made of nitrogenous end which contains more cysteine which harbours disulphide binds
- disulphide bonds confer 3d structure and are also often glycosylated
Which domain contains disulphide bonds?
extracellular
Describe structure of cytoplasmic domain
made of COOH end of the protein
Are domains of receptors dependent on each other?
domains have modular nature- different domain form different receptors can be mis-matched-> domains can function independently from each other
Which protein end does signal bind to
Signal binds to ectodomain (NH2 end)
What are the potential problems of ectodomain-only receptors?
many receptors have isoforms that are purely made of extracellular domain which are directly released to the outside the cells
sometimes act as buffer systems for hormones, sometimes they don’t
e.g. GH has an isoform that has just the extracellular domain and acts as a buffer which increases the half-life of GH
sometimes this domain can stimulate antibody production which can end up at cell surface receptor and activate it.
This transmembrane receptor becomes active, leading to a continuous signal transduction
e.g. antibodies free extracellular domain for TSH receptor
releases TSH receptor stimulates antibody production which binds to THS receptor and stimulates thyroid gland-> hyperthyroidism-> Graves disease with increased thyroid hormone concentration-> goiter
What is the 1st step of the cascade?
the cytoplasmic domain, activated by conformational changes, induces a signalling cascade
what are conformational changes of the cytoplasmic domain induced by
- Phosphorylation of proteins
- Binding between proteins
Where and how does phosphorylation occur?
common post-translation modification is phosphorylation which typically occurs on the following AA: serine, threonine and tyrosine
Steps:
hydroxyl group is removed, phosphate group is added
phosphate group comes from ATP
What does phosphorylation of a protein result in?
in the conformational change of the protein
Does phosphorylation result in activation or deactivation?
Can lead to both
What is the function of phosphatases?
reverse phosphorylation (dephosphorylate)
Which AA out of 3 that get phosphorylated are more common?
Phosphorylated serines and threonines more abundant than phosphorylated tyrosines
Phosphorylation of which AA is usually the beginning of phosphorylation cascade?
Tyrosines phosphorylation often occurs at the beginning of a cascade (many receptors have or induce tyrosine kinase activity)
What do phosphorylated tyrosines usually act as?
The phosphorylated tyrosines serve as docking sites for down stream signal proteins- locking other protein at a phosphorylation site, keeping it activated