Week 4 Flashcards
What is a ligand?
First messenger that binds to the receptor protein to trigger a cellular response
What is signal transduction?
The biochemical mechanism responsible for transmitting extracellular signals across the membrane
Describe the process of signal transduction?
- First messenger binds to receptor proteins
- Activation of upstream signaling proteins signal second messengers
- Second messengers migrate to the downstream signaling proteins
- Downstream proteins bind to target proteins activating it
What processes activate a particular response?
- Covalent protein modifications
- Protein conformational changes
- Altering the rate of gene expression
What are the general steps of chemical messengers?
- The chemical messenger (ligand) is secreted from a specific cell in response to a stimulus
- The chemical messenger diffuses or is transported through blood or ECF to the target cell
- Hydrophobic message diffuses across the plasma membrane and binds to an intracellular receptor and elicits a response
- The receptor on the target cell membrane specifically binds the messenger
- Binding of the messenger to the receptor elicits a response
- The signal is terminated
What are the 4 intracellular communications by chemical mediators?
- Gap junctions
- Synaptic
- Paracrine and autocrine
- Endocrine
Describe transmission, localization, and specificity dependence of gap junctions
- Directly transmitted from cell to cell
- Localized
- Anatomic location
Describe transmission, localization, and specificity dependence of the synaptic
- Transmitted across synaptic cleft
- Localized
- Anatomic location and receptors
Describe transmission, localization, and specificity dependence of paracrine and autocrine
- Transmission by diffusion in interstitial fluid
- Locally diffused
- Dependence on receptors
Describe transmission, localization, and specificity dependence of endocrine
- Transmission by circulating body fluids
- Generalized
- Dependence on receptors
What are the primary messengers of the body?
Ligands
What are the secondary messengers of the body?
- cAMP
- cGMP
- Diacylglycerol (DAG)
- IP3
- Ca2+
What is the function of secondary messenger?
To amplify receptor-generated signals
Describe the steps of signal amplification of Glucose 1-P
- Second messengers amplify the signal that is initiated by a primary messenger
- Receptor activation of Adenylate cyclase generates cAMP
- cAMP binds to a downstream signaling protein Protein Kinase A (PKA)
- PKA then phosphorylates enzyme 2 which then phosphorylates enzyme 3
- Low concentration of signal in the environment, even a single molecule, can cause a large intracellular signal and response
Describe the steps of signal amplification of PLC
- PLC controls the activiyt of the second messengers (IP3, DAG and Ca2+)
- PLC hydrolyzes PIP2 into IP3 and DAG
- DAG activates Protein Kinase C (PKC)
- IP3 activates Ca2+ channels in the ER leading to increased cyctoplasmic levels to Ca2+
- Ca2+ can then activate Ca2+ binding proteins like calmodulin
Describe the function of cell-surface receptors
Bind to membrane receptors because they cannot rapidly cross the membrane
What are the ligands associated with cell-surface receptors?
Polar molecules
Describe the function of intracellular receptors
Gene-specific transcription factors that is able to diffuse through the membrane to bind to intracellular receptor
What are gene-specific transcription factors?
Protein that binds to a specific site on DNA and regulates the rate of transcription of a gene
What are the ligands associated with intracellular receptors?
Hydrophobic messengers
How are lipophilic hormones transported in the blood?
- Bound to serum albumin
- Bound to steroid hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)
- Bound to thyroid hormone-binding globulin (TBG)
How do steroids enter the cell?
Simple diffusion across the plasma membrane
How do steroids enter the cell?
Simple diffusion across the plasma membrane
How do thyroid hormones enter the cell?
Facilitated diffusion
Describe the regulation process of hormonal transcription
- Hormone is carried on serum binding proteins that diffuse across the plasma membrane and bind to specific receptor proteins in nucleus
- Hormone changes conformation of receptors
- Binds to specific regulatory regions called hormone response elements
- Receptor attracts coactivators and corepressor proteins that regulates transcription by increasing or decreasing rate of mRNA formation
- Hormone-regulated gene product produces the cellular response to the hormone
Where is glucocorticoid receptor located?
- Cytosol bound to heat shock proteins (HSP)
- When cortisol binds the GR, the GR dissociates from HSP exposing a nuclear localization signal (NSL)
- GR homodimerizes and translocates to the nucleus where it binds to hormone response elements (HRE) in the DNA
- Activate transcription of genes and inhibit transcription of other genes to regulate metabolism
Is the glycocoticoid receptor host a rapid process?
No, because you need to complete the process in order to have a response
What does an activated GR do once it enters the nucleus?
It homodimerizes and translocates to bind to HRE
What common features do membrane receptors share?
- Extracellular domain that binds the chemical messenger
- 1 or more membrane-spanning domains that are a-helices
- Intracellular domain that initiates signal transduction
How do membrane receptors transmit a signal?
- Ligand binding to extracellular domain of the receptor causes a conformational change communicated in the intracellular domain
- Activated intracellular domain initiates a signal transduction pathway
Is the signal pathway multidirectional?
It moves in one direction
List the 3 effects on the cell when membrane receptors achieves signal transduction
- Rapid and immediate effects of cellular ion concentration
- Activation or inhibition of enzymes
- Slower changes in the rate of gene expression for a specific set of proteins
List the 3 common membrane receptors
- G protein-coupled receptor
- Receptor enzymes (kinases)
- Gated-ion channels
What is GPRC?
a-helical integral membrane proteins that make 7 passes through the membrane
What sensory responses are associated with GPRC?
Vision, taste, and smell
What are the 3 proteins comprising G-proteins
- G-alpha
- G-beta
- G-gamma
What are the 3 G-alpha proteins?
- Gs-a
- Gi-a
- Gqa
What is Gs-a?
Stimulatory protein that activates adenylate cyclase
What is Gs-a’s second messenger?
cAMP
What is Gi-a?
Inhibitory protein that inhibits adenylate cyclase
What is Gq-a?
Stimulatory protein that stimulates phospholipase C (PLC)
What is Gq-a’s second messenger?
IP3, DAG, Ca2+
What do G-beta and G-gamma do?
- Stimulates phospholipase A
- Regulate ion channels
- Regulate receptor kinases
What binds G proteins together?
GTP
Where is G-alpha and G-gamma located?
Inner plasma membrane leaflet