15 Cell Signaling and Signal Transduction：Communication Between Cells.pdfVIP

15 Cell Signaling and Signal Transduction: Communication Between Cells 15.1 The Basic Elements he English poet John Donne expressed his belief in the interdependence of of Cell Signaling Systems humans in the phrase “No man is an island.” The same can be said of the 15.2 A Survey of Extracellular Messengers Tcells that make up a complex multicellular organism. Most cells in a plant or animal are specialized to carry out one or more speci?c functions. Many biological and Their Receptors processes require various cells to work together and to coordinate their activities. To 15.3 G Protein-Coupled Receptors make this possible, cells have to communicate with each other, which is accomplished and Their Second Messengers by a process called cell signaling. Cell signaling makes it possible for cells to respond 15.4 Protein-Tyrosine Phosphorylation as a in an appropriate manner to a speci?c environmental stimulus. Mechanism for Signal Transduction 15.5 The Role of Calcium Three-dimensional, X-ray crystallographic structure of a -adrenergic receptor -AR , which 2 2 as an Intracellular Messenger is a representative member of the G protein-coupled receptor GPCR superfamily. These inte- 15.6 Convergence, Divergence, gral membrane proteins are characterized as containing seven transmembrane helices. As a group, and Cross-Talk Among Different Signaling these proteins bind an astonishing array of biological messengers, which constitutes the ?rst step Pathways in eliciting many of the body’s most basic responses. The 2-AR is a resident of the plasma 15.7 The Role of NO membrane of a variety of cells, where it normally binds the ligand epinephrine and mediates such responses as increased heart rate and relaxation of smooth muscle cells. Beta-adrenergic as an Intercellular Messenger receptors are the targets of a number of important drugs, including -blockers, which are 15.8 Apoptosis Programmed Cell Death widely prescribed for the treatment of high blood