Unit 5.4- Hormonal Comunication Flashcards
Endocrine system definition:
A communication system using hormones as signalling molecules
Hormones definition:
Molecules (proteins or steroids) that are released by endocrine glands directly into the blood. They act as messengers, carrying a signal from the endocrine gland to a specific target organ or tissue
Target cells definition:
For non-steroid hormones, cells that possess a specific receptor on their plasma membrane, The shape of the receptor is complementary to the shape of the hormone molecule. Many similar cells together form a target tissue
What are the types of hormone?
- Steroid hormones (E.g. oestrogen and testosterone)
- Protein and peptide hormones and derivatives of amino acids. These are non-steroid (e.g. adrenaline, insulin and glucagon)
How do protein hormones get their message into a cell?
- Not soluble in the phospholipid membrane so do not enter cell
- They bind to the cell surface membrane and release a second messenger inside the cell
How do steroid hormones get their message into a cell?
- They can pass through the cell membrane
- The enter the nucleus and have a direct effect on the DNA
Where are hormones released from?
Endocrine glands
What are endocrine glands?
- Ductless glands
- Consists of groups of cells that manufacture and release hormones directly into the blood in the capillaries running through the gland
What kind of messenger is a non-steroid hormone?
First messenger
What kind of messenger is the signalling molecule inside a cell which a non-steroid hormone causes the release of?
Second messenger
How does the activation of a second messenger with non-steroid hormones work?
- The hormone binds to a receptor on the cell surface membrane. This activates a G protein
- The G protein activates an effector molecule (usually an enzyme that converts an inactive molecule into the active second messenger
- The second messenger may at directly on another protein or it may initiate a cascade of enzyme-controlled reactions
Adrenal cortex definition:
The outer layer of the adrenal gland
Adrenal gland definition:
One of a pair of glands lying above the kidneys, which release adrenaline and a number of other hormones known as corticoids such as aldosterone
Adrenaline definition:
A hormone released from adrenal glands, which stimulates the body to prepare for fight or flight
Adrenal medulla definition;
The inner layer of the adrenal glands
What type of glands are adrenal glands?
Endocrine glands
What are the three layers of cells surrounding the adrenal gland (between the medulla and cortex)?
- Zona glomerulosa
- Zona fasciculata
- Zona reticularis
What is the zona glomerulosa?
- Outer most later, (closest to the cortex of the adrenal glands)
- Secretes mineralocorticoids such as aldosterone
What is the zona fasculata?
- The middle layer (of the three in the adrenal gland)
- Secretes glucocorticoids such as cortisol
What is the zona reitcularis?
- The innermost later, (closest to the adrenal medulla)
- Thought to secrete precursor molecules that are used to make sex hormones
What does the adrenal cortex use to make hormones?
Cholesterol