Exam3 Flashcards
What can an external signal be?
Anything. Chemical, light, protein, etc.
How do we know there are signaling molecules?
Otto Loewi’s experiment. He took a frog heart with nerves and put it in a ringer solution and used electrodes to measure heart rate. He then took the ringer solution from that container and placed it in container B, with a frog heart whose nerves had been removed. The frog’s heart rate responded to the solution with a change. That indicates molecules in solution caused a response in heart rate, even if nerves were not there.
What are four signaling types in animal cells?
Endocrine, paracrine, neuronal/synaptic, contact dependent signaling
What is endocrine signaling?
Hormone driven. Systemic. Long range. Examples of hormones are insulin, glucagon, steroids.
What does systemic mean?
Throughout the entire organism.
What is paracrine signaling?
Diffusible. “Local mediators”. Short range, several cell layers. Examples are cytokines in inflammatory response.
What is synaptic/neuronal signaling?
Short or long range, depending on axon length. Performed by neurons that transmit signals electrically along their axons and release neurotransmitters at synapses, which are often located far away from the neuronal cell body.
What is contact dependent signaling?
Signal bound to plasma membrane of signaling cell. Proteins or polysaccharides. Huge for development. Requires in direct membrane contact. Webbed mouse foot example.
Do cells only receive one signal at a time?
No. They receive many signals at once. Integrated effects.
Does a signal always have the same effect?
No. One signal can have different effects on different cell types. In heart pacemaker cells, acetylcholine decreases rate of firing. In salivary gland cells, acetylcholine increases secretion. In skeletal muscle cells, it causes contraction.
How are signal recognized by target cell?
Each signal always has a receptor in/on target cell. Always a protein that suffers a conformation change upon biding ligand.
What does signal binding always lead to?
A response. Responses occur through signal transduction cascades.
What is transduction?
When initial signal is turned into a different form.
What are effector molecules?
Secondary messengers.
What are the three targets of secondary messengers?
Metabolic enzyme, cytoskeletal rearrangements, gene regulation
How long is metabolic enzyme reaction?
Seconds to minutes
How long is cytoskeletal rearrangement action?
Seconds to minutes
How long is gene regulation action?
Minutes to hours.
What are examples of mechanisms for activating signaling proteins?
De/phosphorylation. GTP binding. Ras-MAP kinase signaling. Removal of inhibitors or derepression. Polyubiquitination. Proteolysis.
What is used to phosphorylate? Dephosphorylate?
Protein kinase with ATP to ADP to phosphorylate. Protein phosphatase to dephosphorylate.
Describe GTP binding process?
Start with molecule turned off with GDP attached. Change GDP to GTP with GEF and turn signal on. Remove GTP and replace with GDP, using GAPs for GTP hydrolysis, and turn signal off.
What kind of receptor does Ras-MAP kinase signaling have? What does it accomplish?
Tyrosine. Both gene expression and metabolic activation.