Cell signaling: how cells communicate
Cells constantly communicate using chemical signals. A signaling cell releases a signaling molecule, such as a hormone or a neurotransmitter, and only target cells with a matching receptor protein respond, because the signal fits its receptor much like a key fits a lock. Signals travel different distances: some act on the cell that released them or on its neighbors, nerve cells send signals across the tiny gap of a synapse, and hormones travel through the blood to distant cells. Cell signaling usually works in three stages. In reception, the signaling molecule binds to a receptor, often on the cell membrane. In transduction, the receptor changes shape and sets off a chain of reactions inside the cell, called a signaling pathway, which can amplify the signal so that one molecule triggers many responses. In response, the cell does something, such as switching certain genes on or off, releasing a substance, or dividing. Some signals, like steroid hormones, can pass through the membrane and bind to receptors inside the cell instead. When signaling goes wrong, disease can result: many cancers involve signaling pathways that tell cells to divide even when they should not.
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