Name: how cells send and receive signals
Uploaded: 2026-08-26T08:19:58.605Z
Duration: 2 min 38 s
Channel: JoVE

Cells use different signaling mechanisms to communicate with nearby and distant cells. These signaling pathways help coordinate growth, metabolism, and cellular responses to environmental changes.Many forms of cell signaling use chemical messengers called ligands, which bind to specific receptor proteins on target cells. This communication between cells is called intercellular signaling.After a ligand binds to its receptor, the target cell starts intracellular signaling. The cell relays the message through a signaling cascade, where signaling proteins and second messengers often amplify the signal inside the cell.Depending on the distance between cells, signaling can occur through different mechanisms. In autocrine signaling, the ligand acts on the same cell that released it, while paracrine signaling affects nearby cells within the same tissue.Another form of cell communication is contact-dependent, or juxtacrine, signaling, where a ligand attached to one cell binds directly to a receptor on a neighboring cell.In some cases, cells communicate directly through gap junctions in animal cells or through plasmodesmata in plant cells, allowing small molecules and ions to pass between ne

what is cell signaling?

What is Cell Signaling?

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate and respond to the environment.Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch information, while photoreceptors in the retina can detect light. Most cells, however, have evolved to respond to chemical signals, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and many other types of signaling molecules. Cells can even coordinate different responses elicited by the same signaling molecule.Typically, cell signaling involves three steps: (1) reception of the signal, (2) signal transduction, and (3) a response. In most signal reception, a membrane-impermeable molecule, or ligand, causes a change in a membrane receptor; however, some signaling molecules, such as hormones, can traverse the membrane to reach their internal receptors. The membrane receptor can then send this signal to intracellular messengers, which transduce the message into a cellular response. This intracellular response may include a change in transcription, translation, protein activation, or many others.Unicellular organisms such as bacteria can use a type of cell signaling called quorum sensing to detect their concentration in a colony and generate coordinated responses. Eukaryotic cells can release ligands that target the same cell that produced the signal (autocrine signaling) or neighboring cells (paracrine signaling). Signals can even be sent over long distances, as in the case of some hormones, and produce responses in distant cells, called endocrine signaling. Contact-dependent signaling requires direct physical contact between neighboring cells, often through interactions between membrane-bound signaling molecules and receptors. Nervous system cells can generate rapid responses through a specialization of cell signaling called synaptic signaling.

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. ...

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JoVE Core

Biology

Cellular Processes

Cell Signaling

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

how cells send and receive signals

Cell signaling lets cells send and receive messages from the environment and from other cells. Even with a protective membrane, cells need to detect changes and respond to them. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use signaling to stay coordinated and to react to outside cues.

Cells often rely on receptor proteins in the membrane to sense information. Skin cells can respond to touch, and photoreceptors in the retina can detect light. Most cells respond to chemical signals such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and other signaling molecules. The same signal can also trigger different responses in different cells.

Cell signaling usually follows three steps: reception, signal transduction, and response. During reception, a ligand, or signal molecule, binds to a receptor and changes it. Some ligands cannot cross the membrane, while some hormones can pass through it and bind internal receptors. The receptor then passes the message to intracellular messengers, which carry out the signal transduction.

The cell response can include changes in transcription, translation, or protein activation. Bacteria use quorum sensing to detect their concentration in a colony and produce coordinated responses. Eukaryotic cells can use autocrine signaling to signal themselves, paracrine signaling to signal nearby cells, and endocrine signaling to send hormones over long distances. Contact-dependent signaling uses direct pathways between neighboring cells, and synaptic signaling helps nervous system cells produce rapid responses.

How Cells Send and Receive Signals

Cell signaling lets cells send and receive messages from the environment and from other cells. Even with a protective membrane, cells need to detect changes and respond to them. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use signaling to stay coordinated and to react to outside cues. Cells often rely on receptor proteins in the membrane to sense information. Skin cells can respond to touch, and photoreceptors in the retina can detect light. Most cells respond to chemical signals such as hormones,...

internal receptors

Steroid Hormones and Intracellular Receptors

Steroid hormones and other small signaling molecules can pass through the cell membrane and bind to intracellular receptors inside the cell. These receptors are also called internal receptors. Many hydrophilic signals cannot cross the plasma membrane, so this pathway is used by signals that are small or hydrophobic. Nitric oxide, or NO, also uses this type of signaling. When a ligand, which is a signaling molecule, binds to a receptor in the cytoplasm or nucleus, the receptor changes shape.

contact-dependent cell communication

Cell-to-Cell Signaling via Channels

Cell-to-cell signaling can happen when neighboring cells are in direct contact. In this kind of communication, cells use receptor-ligand interactions or special cytoplasmic channels to move small molecules between them. In animal cells, these channels are called gap junctions. They form when six proteins called connexins assemble into a cylindrical structure in the plasma membrane called a connexon. When connexons from two adjacent cells line up, a channel opens between the cells. Enzymes help...

autocrine signaling

Self-Signaling Cells in Immunity and Cancer

Autocrine signaling is a cell communication method in which a cell sends a signal to itself. The same cell releases an extracellular signaling molecule and also has receptors that can bind to that molecule. This lets the cell respond to its own message. In the immune system, this process is important for homeostasis, or keeping body conditions stable. A well-studied example is the macrophage, an immune cell that secretes cytokines such as interleukin-1, or IL-1. Macrophages also have membrane...

paracrine signaling

Local Cell Signaling in Blood and Healing

Local cell signaling helps cells communicate with nearby neighbors using released signaling molecules. These molecules act only over a short distance because they break down quickly or are inactivated if they are not taken up. This type of signaling supports processes such as nitric oxide signaling in blood vessels, neuron-to-neuron communication at synapses, blood clotting, tissue repair, and local allergic skin reactions. A clear example is nitric oxide signaling in blood vessels. The...

synaptic signaling

Chemical and Electrical Synapses

Neurons send signals across synapses, which are junctions between cells. These signals can excite or inhibit other neurons or target cells such as muscles. Most synapses are chemical. Some are electrical. Chemical synapses use action potentials, which are electrical impulses, to trigger the release of neurotransmitters. The sending neuron is the presynaptic neuron, and the receiving neuron is the postsynaptic neuron. An action potential travels along the axon and reaches the axon terminal,...

endocrine signaling

Hormones Travel to Distant Target Cells

Endocrine signaling uses hormones to send messages to target cells in other organs. Endocrine cells release these hormones into the circulatory system, which carries the signal through the body. Because the hormone reaches the whole organism, only cells with the right receptors respond. This kind of signaling usually acts slowly, but its effects last longer. Endocrine cells can use cell surface receptors or intracellular receptors, depending on the hormone. Cell surface receptors are...

bacterial signaling

Quorum Sensing in Bacteria

Quorum sensing lets bacteria coordinate behavior by sensing how many cells are nearby. Bacteria can signal inside the cell or between cells. When many bacteria act together, they can behave like a community and change gene expression as a group. This signaling starts with autoinducers, or AIs. Individual bacteria make AIs and release them across the cell membrane into the surrounding space. Some AIs diffuse out passively along a concentration gradient, while others are moved out by active...

yeast signaling

Yeast Cell Communication in Mating

Yeast cell communication helps control mating, colony growth, and other cell responses. Yeasts are single-celled organisms, but unlike bacteria, they are eukaryotes with a nucleus. Their signaling works much like cell signaling in other eukaryotic cells. A signal often begins when a ligand, such as a protein or small molecule released from a yeast cell, binds to a receptor on the cell surface. This binding activates second-messenger kinases, which then switch transcription factors on or off.

g protein-coupled receptors

GPCR Signaling Through G Proteins

G-protein coupled receptors, or GPCRs, start cell signaling after a ligand binds to the receptor. The receptor is a single polypeptide that crosses the cell membrane seven times. These membrane loops create an outside pocket that fits a specific ligand, such as a neurotransmitter or hormone. The inside loops connect to a G-protein.

enzyme-linked receptors

Trk Receptors in Cell Signaling

Trk receptors are enzyme-linked receptors that help cells respond to growth factors and some hormones. They belong to the receptor tyrosine kinase, or RTK, family. These receptors can trigger several signals inside a cell after they are activated. Neurotrophin receptors are one RTK group and include TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC, which are tropomyosin-related kinase receptors. TrkA binds nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-6, and neurotrophin-7. TrkB binds brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, and...

ion channels

Ion Channels in Cells and Membranes

Ion channels are membrane proteins that help cells move ions across the plasma membrane. Ions such as sodium, potassium, and calcium move into and out of cells to maintain the electrochemical gradient. This gradient supports cell size and volume, nerve signaling, and gas and nutrient exchange. Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins that let specific ions pass down their electrochemical gradient. Their main job is to help keep the membrane potential, which is needed for cell...

what are second messengers?

Cell Signals That Use Second Messengers

Cell signals often use second messengers to carry messages inside the cell. Many receptor-binding ligands are hydrophilic, so they do not cross the cell membrane. Instead, the signal is relayed to an internal messenger that can spread the message farther. G-protein coupled receptors can activate the phosphoinositol pathway and the cyclic AMP, or cAMP, pathway. In the phosphoinositol pathway, the receptor activates phospholipase C. This enzyme hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol biphosphate, or...

intracellular signaling cascades

Cell-Surface Receptor Signal Cascades

Cell-surface receptor signal cascades move information from outside the cell into the cytoplasm. This process is called signal transduction. It happens only with cell-surface receptors, because they cannot interact with most cell parts, such as DNA. Internal receptors are different. They can interact directly with DNA in the nucleus and help start protein synthesis. When a ligand binds to a receptor, the receptor changes shape. That shape change affects the receptor’s intracellular domain or...

key terms and concepts

Explore how cells detect signals, use receptors, and respond through reception, transduction, and response. Includes quorum, endocrine, and synaptic signaling.

How Cells Send and Receive Signals | JoVE K12

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How Cells Send and Receive Signals

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