Chapter 11: Cell Communication

An In-Depth Exploration of
Cellular Communication and
Signalling Mechanisms
Cell Communication

• Cell-to-cell communication is essential

for multi cellular organisms.

• Biologists have discovrered some

universal mechanismas of cellular
regulations
Introduction to cell communication

Think !!!
• Are your cells just simple building blocks,
unconscious and static as bricks in a wall?

• Cells can detect what's going on around them, and

they can respond in real-time to cues from their
neighbours and environment.

• At this very moment, your cells are sending and

receiving millions of messages in the form of
chemical signalling molecules!
Definition
Any of several ways in which living cells of an
organism communicate with one another, whether
by direct contact between cells or by means of
chemical signals carried by neurotransmitter,
hormones and cyclic AMP.

• Cell communication is essential for coordinating

cellular functions.
• Enables processes like growth, immune response,
and maintaining balance.
• Involves a series of signals and responses that
keep multicellular organisms organized.
Do Cells Communicate And Why?

• Cells can also communicate directly with one

another and change their own internal working in
response by way a variety of chemical and
mechanical signals.

• In multi-cellular organisms, cell signalling allows

for the specialisation of a group of cells.

• This communication is essential for functions

like growth, immune response, tissue repair, and
homeostasis.
Overview of cell signalling

• Cells typically communicate using chemical signals.

• These chemical signals, which are proteins or
other molecules produced by a sending cell, are
often secreted from the cell and released into the
extracellular space.
• There, they can float – like messages in a bottle –
over to neighbouring cells.
Overview of cell signaling
Importance of Cell Communication

• Ensures cells can respond to

environmental changes.

• Maintains homeostasis by regulating

internal cellular activities.

• Essential for tissue repair, growth, and

adaptation to external stimuli.
 Cell signalling in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Cell Signalling in Prokaryotes
• Korman et al. (1979) reported on the relationship between
the degree of chemotactic activity in Escherichia coli.
• They concluded: the response of the bacterial flagella was
proportional to the amount of a specific receptor on its cell
surface.
• Regulation of Flagella movement by histidine kinase - a
good example of prokaryote signaling

• Also an evidence of evolution of Signaling mechanism

from prokaryote to eukaryote

• Clock wise and anticlockwise movement of flagella

regulated by signaling- determines its swimming pattern
Cell signalling in Prokaryotes
Example:1
• Many bacteria respond to chemical signals
secreted by their neighbours and increase in
concentration with increasing population density.
This process called quorum sensing.

• Allows to bacteria to coordinate their behaviour

including their motility, antibiotic production,
spore formation and sexual conjugation.

• Promotes survival and saves from danger.

Cell Signalling in Prokaryotes

Example:2
• Similarly, budding yeast
[Link] communicate with
one another in preparation for
mating.

• A haploid individual, ready to

mate, secrets a peptide called
mating factor that signals cells of
the opposite mating type to stop
proliferation and prepare for
mating
Cell Signaling in Eukaryotes

• Eukaryotic signaling systems are much more

elaborate than those in yeasts or bacteria.

• More than 1500 genes encode different

receptor proteins in human.

• Flies, worms and mammals all use essentially

similar machinery for cell communication.
 Cell Signaling in Eukaryotes

• In plants, as in animals, cells are in constant

communication with one another.

• Plant cells communicate to coordinate their

activities in response to the changing conditions
of light, dark, temperature, which guide the
plants growth, flowering and fruiting.

• Plants use different signaling molecules and

receptors than animals
Communication of cells

❖Two main kinds of communication

1. Intercellular signalling (Signaling between the cells)

2. Intracellular signalling (Signalling inside the cell)

Communication of cells

❖Two main kinds of communication

1. Intercellular signalling (Signaling between the cells)

(a) Autocrine signaling
(b) Endocrine signaling
(c) Direct cell-cell contact signalling

2. Intracellular signalling (Signalling inside the cell)

(d) Paracrine signaling
Classification of Signaling Pathway
There are four basic categories of chemical signaling
found in multicellular organisms:

(a) Paracrine: Signals act on nearby cells (e.g.,

growth factors).

(b) Autocrine: Signals affect the cell that releases them.

(c) Endocrine: Hormones act over long distances

via the bloodstream.
(d) Juxtacrine: Direct cell-to-cell contact, important
in immune responses.
Different cell signalling mechanisms
 Autocrine Signalling
• Cells respond to signaling molecules that they themselves
produce (response of the immune system to foreign antigens,
and cancer cells).

• Cells respond to signals they release themselves, common in

immune response.
Paracrine Signalling
• Signals are released to act on nearby cells, often
used in tissue repair.
• The signaling molecules released by one cell act on
neighboring target cells (neurotransmitters).
 Endocrine Signalling
• Hormones travel through the bloodstream to act on distant
cells.

• The signaling molecules are hormones secreted by

endocrine cells and carried through the circulation system
to act on target cells at distant body sites.
Synaptic Signalling
• The process by which neurons communicate with
each other at specialized junctions called synapses.

• Neurons release neurotransmitters across synapses to

communicate.
Juxtacrine Signaling
• A type of cell communication that occurs when cells are in
direct contact with each other and signaling molecules act
locally on adjacent target cells.

• Also known as direct-contact signaling.

Key Components of Cell Signalling
• Host Cells : The cells producing Ligands

• Signaling Molecules (Ligands): Chemical

messengers like hormones and proteins.

• Receptors: Protein molecules that bind ligands,

either on the cell surface or within the cell.

• Intracellular messengers: Secondary

messengers - Intermediate compounds carriers
the cell to the intracellular sensors.
Key Components of Cell Signalling

• Target cell: Cell that receives a chemical signal

from a signaling cell and responds by binding to a
specific receptor protein.

• Signal Transduction Pathways: Relay

signals inside the cell, often amplifying response.

• Cellular Responses: Changes in gene

expression, metabolism, or cell behaviour.
Types of Signaling molecules

1) Hormone

2) Neurotransmitter

3) Cytokines
 Hormones
• A class of signaling molecules produced by glands in
multicellular organisms.
• Transported by the circulatory system to target distant
organs to regulate physiology and behaviour.
 Neurotransmitters
• Endogenous chemicals that transmit signals across a synapse
from one neuron to another “target” neuron.
• Released from synaptic vesicles from synapses into the
synaptic ceft, where recived by receptors on other synapses.
 Cytokines
• They are signalling molecule of immune system.
• Cytokines represent a diverse group of molecules that
transmit intercellular signals.
• These signals may either be autocrine (where the same cell
both produces the cytokine and responds to it) or paracrine
(where the cytokine is made by one cell and acts on another).
 How Cell Signalling occurs

1. Ligand binds to the specific 1)

receptor.

2. The receptor undergoes

changes in its size and activity. 2)

3. Finally, the approprite response 3)

is generated.
The three stages of cell signaling

• Earl [Link] dicovered how the hormones

epinephrine acts on cells.
• Sutherland suggested that cells receving signals went
through three processes.

1) Reception
2) Transduction
3) Response
Usually, two molecules are involved: 1) Ligand 2) Receptor
Reception
• A signal molecule binds to a receptor protien,
causing it to change shape.
• The binding between a signal molecule
(ligand) and receptor is highly specific.

• A conformational change in a receptor is often

the initial transduction of the signal.

• Most signal receptors are plasma membrane

proteins.
Intracellular receptors
• Some receptor proteins are intracellular, found in the
cytosol or nucleus of target cells.

• Small or hydrophobic chemical messengers can readily

cross the membrane and activate receptors.

• Examples of hydrophobic messengers are the steroid and

thyroid hormones of animals.

• An activated hormone-receptor complex can act as a

transcription factor, turning on specific genes.
Receptors in the Plasma membrane

• Most water-soluble signal molecules bind

to specific sites on receptor proteins in
the plasma membrane.

• There are three main types of membrane

receptors:

1) G-protein-coupled receptors
2) Tyrosine kinases receptor
3) Ion channel receptors
G-protein-coupled receptors

What are G-protein-coupled receptors?

• A G-protein-coupled receptor is a plasma

membrane receptor that works with the help of a G
protein.

• The G-protein acts as an on/off switch: If GDP is

bound to the G protein, the G protein is inactive
G-protein-coupled receptor
G-protein Function: “On” and “Off”
• Energy source GTP turns on the protien.
• GDP turns if off.
Receptor tyrosine kinases

What is receptor tyrosine kinases?

• Receptor tyrosine kinases are membrane
receptors that attach phosphates to tyrosine.

• A receptor tyrosine kinase can trigger multiple

signal transduction pathways at once.
Tyrosine kinases receptor
lon channel receptors

What is lon channel receptors?

• An ion channel receptor acts as a gate when the

receptor changes shape.

• When a signal molecule binds as a ligand to the

receptor, the gate allows specific ions, such as
Na+ or Ca2+ , through a channel in the receptor.
lon channel receptors
Transduction

Transduction: Cascadas of molecular

interaction relay signals from receptors to target
molecules in the cell.

Transduction usually involves multiple steps.

• Multistep pathways can amplify a signal: A few

molecules can produce a large cellular response.

• Multistep pathways provide more opportunities for

coordination and regulation.
Signal Transduction Pathway

• The molecules that relay a signal from receptor to

response are mostly proteins.

• Like falling dominoes, the receptor activates

another protein, which activates another, and so
on, until the protein producing the response is
activated.

• At each step, the signal is transduced into a

different form, usually a conformational change.
Protein Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation

• In many pathways, the signal is transmitted by a

cascade of protein phosphorylations.

• Phosphatase enzymes remove the phosphate

group from a molecule that has been previously
phosphorylated (dephosphorylation).

• This phosphorylation and dephosphorylation

system acts as a molecular switch, turning
activities on and off.
Signal Transduction
Small Molecules and Ions Exchange

• Second messengers are small, nonprotein, water-

soluble molecules or ions.

• The extracellular signal molecule that binds to the

membrane is a pathway's "first messenger”.

• Second messengers can readily spread

throughout cells by diffusion.

• Second messengers participate in pathways

initiated by G-protein-coupled receptors and
receptor tyrosine kinases.
Cyclic AMP

• Cyclic AMP (cAMP) is one of the most widely

used second messengers.

• Adenylyl cyclase, an enzyme in the plasma

membrane, converts ATP to cAMP in response
to an extracellular signal.
Cyclic AMP
G-protein-coupled receptors
• Many signal molecules trigger formation of cAMP.

• Other components of cAMP pathways are G proteins,

G-protein-coupled receptors, and protein kinases.

• cAMP usually activates protein kinase A, which

phosphorylates various other proteins.

• Further regulation of cell metabolism is provided by G-

protein systems that inhibit adenylyl cyclase.
G-protein-coupled receptors
Calcium ions
• Calcium ions (Ca2+) act as a second messenger
in many pathways.

• Ca²⁺ ions help transmit signals within cells by

acting as a second messenger, often in
response to extracellular signals like hormones
or neurotransmitters, and triggering various
cellular responses, such as muscle contraction,
secretion, and cell division.
Calcium ions
Inositol Triphoshate (IP3)

• A signal relayed by a signal transduction pathway

may trigger an increase in calcium in the cytosol.

• Pathways leading to the release of calcium involve

inositol triphosphate (IPs) and diacylglycerol
(DAG) as second messengers
Inositol Triphoshate (IP3)
Inositol Triphoshate (IP3)
Inositol Triphoshate (IP3)
Response

Response: Cells signaling leads to regulation of

cytoplasmic activities or transcription.

• The cells response to an extracellular signal is

sometimes called the “output response”
Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Response

• Ultimately, a signal transduction pathway leads to

regulation of one or more cellular activities.

• The response may occur in the cytoplasm or may

involve action in the nucleus.

• Many pathways regulate the activity of enzymes.

Schemitic of signaling
Nuclear Response

• Many other signaling pathway regulate the

synthesis of enzymes or other proteins, usually
by turning genes on or off in the nucles.

• The final activated molecule may function as a

transcription factor.
Nuclear Response
Fine-Tuning of the Response

Multistep pathways have two important benefits

Amplifying Contribuing
the signal to the
(and thus the specificity of
response) the reponse
Signal Amplifications
Signal Cascade: Amplification occurs through a
cascade of molecular events where each activated
molecule can, in turn, activate multiple downstream targets,
allowing a small initial signal to produce a large response.
Enzyme Activation: Commonly, enzymes like kinases
are involved in these cascades, where each enzyme
activates numerous other molecules, rapidly amplifying
the signal across the cell.
Response Magnitude: This amplification mechanism
ensures that even low concentrations of a signaling
molecule can lead to a significant cellular response,
increasing the sensitivity and efficiency of the cell’s
response to its environment.
Signal Amplifications
The Specificity of Cells Signaling

• Different kinds of cells have different collections of proteins.

• These differences in proteins give each kind of cell

specificity in detecting and responding to signals.

• The response of a cell to a signal depends on the cell's

particular collection of proteins.

• Pathway branching and "cross-talk" further help the cell

coordinate incoming signals.
Multistep pathways
Signaling Efficiency

Signaling Efficiency: Scaffolding Proteins

and Signaling Complexes.

• Scaffolding proteins are large relay proteins to

which other relay proteins are attached.
• Scaffolding proteins can increase the signal
transduction efficiency
Signaling Efficiency
Cell Signallig in Specific System

Cell signaling in nervous system

• Synaptic signaling: Communication between neurons

via neurotransmitters.

• Neurotransmitter release at synapse triggers receptor

binding.

• Types of receptors: Ionotropic (direct) and metabotropic

(indirect via GPCR).

• Fast, precise signaling essential for reflexes,

perception, and coordination.
Cell signaling in nervous system
Endocrine system signaling
• Hormonal signaling for long-distance communication
in the body.

• Hormones (e.g., insulin, adrenaline) travel through

bloodstream to target cells.

• Receptors on target cells respond to specific

hormones.

• Slower but sustained effects regulate metabolism,

growth, and homeostasis.
Endocrine system signaling
Immune System Signaling
• Cytokines mediate immune cell communication and
coordination.

• Released by immune cells to direct responses (e.g.,

inflammation).

• T and B cells recognize antigens and trigger immune

defences.

• Enables precise pathogen targeting while avoiding self-

reactivity.
Immune System Signaling
Complications
When Cell Communication Goes Wrong?

• The cells in our bodies are constantly sending out

and receiving signals.

• But what if a cell fails to send out a signal at the

proper time?

• Or what if a signal doesn't reach its target?

• What if a target cell does not respond to a signal, or a

cell responds even though it has not received a
signal?
Losing the signal
• Normally, cells in the pancreas release a signal, called
insulin, that tells your liver, muscle and fat cells to
store this sugar for later use.

• In type I diabetes, the

pancreatic cells that
produce insulin are
lost. Consequently, the
insulin signal is also lost.

• As a result, sugar
accumulates to toxic levels
in the blood.
 When a Signal Doesn't Reach Its Target

• Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the

protective wrappings around nerve cells in the
brain and spinal cord are destroyed.
• The affected nerve cells can no longer transmit
signals from one area of the brain to another.
When the Target Ignores the Signal
• Type I and type II diabetes have very similar
symptoms, but they have different causes.

• People who have type I diabetes are unable to

produce the insulin signal, those with type II diabetes
do produce insulin.

• The cells of type II diabetics have lost the ability to

respond to insulin.

• The end result is the same:

blood sugar levels become
dangerously high.
Multiple Breakdowns
Cell growth and division is such an important process that
it is under tight control with many checks and balances.
But even so, cell communication can break down. The
result is uncontrolled cell growth, often leading to cancer.
Many mechanisms maintain
appropriate cell growth:
(1) Cell division occurs in response
to external signals.
(2) Enzymes repair damaged DNA.
(3) Cells make connections with
their neighbours.
(4) If these connections suddenly
change, neighbouring cells
send out an alert. Cells respect
and stay within tissue
boundaries.
(5) If a cell is beyond repair, it
initiates its own death.
Treatment
Treatment of diesese cause by cell signaling problems

• Just as cell signaling can go wrong resulting in disease,

many disease treatments rely on cell communication.

• If you think of disease as a roadblock in cell signaling,

treatment is an alternate route.

• The first step is to locate the problem.

• The second step is to find a way around the problem.

Sometimes it's easy.

• For example: The treatment for type I diabetes is to inject

insulin into the blood stream.
Significance of cell signaling
• Cell signaling is basis of Prokaryote and Eukaryote life.

• For normal functioning coordination of every signaling

pathway is necessary.

• Altered signaling pathways may lead to diseases.

• Defect can be in any component of signalling ultimately
leading to the disease development.

• Cell signaling has been identified in Cancer,

Cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and many
other disorders.

• Cell signaling is an important area of research for drug

discovery.
Examination Rules
▪ Electronic Device Restrictions
– The use of any electronic devices is prohibited during the
exam. Please turn off your cellphone and put it in your
bag before the exam.
– A calculator is not needed.
▪ Exam Time Regulations
– The total duration of the exam is 2 hours.
– No entry is allowed 15 minutes after the exam starts.
– You may choose to submit your paper 30 minutes after the
exam begins.
▪ Going to washroom is NOT allowed.
Notice

▪ Please adhere to the above rules. Any violations will be

regarded as cheating.
▪ The exam will primarily consist of multiple choice, fill-in-
the-blank, explanation of terminologies, simple
question, and comprehensive questions.
▪ Please read the questions carefully and ensure that all
the questions are answered properly.
Advice on Finial exams

▪ Put down your name and ID immediately after receiving

the papers.
▪ Review the course materials
▪ Try to answer all the questions
▪ Arrange your time properly
▪ Do not just give simple answers, try to explain and give
examples.
▪ If your cannot remember the exact word, try to use
simple words to explain
▪ If forget some points, try to make a guess.
 Good luck with your
final exam and further
study in HITsz!!!