Enduring Understanding 3D

Cells communicate by generating, transmitting and receiving chemical signals.

For cells to function in a biological system, they must communicate with other cells and respond to their external environment. Cell-to-cell communication is ubiquitous in biological systems, from archaea and bacteria to multicellular organisms. The basic chemical processes by which cells communicate are shared across evolutionary lines of descent, and communication schemes are the products of evolution. Cell-to-cell communication is a component of higher-order biological organization and responses. In multicellular organisms, cell-to-cell and environment-to-cell chemical signaling pathways direct complex processes, ranging from cell and organ differentiation to whole organism physiological responses and behaviors. Certain signal pathways involve direct cell-to-cell contact, operate over very short distances, and may be determined by the structure of the organism or organelle, including plasmodesmata in plants and receptor-to-recognition protein interaction in the vertebrate immune system. Chemical signals allow cells to communicate without physical contact. The distance between the signal generating cell(s) and the responding cell can be small or large. In this type of signaling pathway, there is often a gradient response, and threshold concentrations are required to trigger the communication pathway.

Chemical signaling pathways in cells are determined by the properties of the molecules involved, the concentrations of signal and receptor molecules, and the binding affinities (fit) between signal and receptor. The signal can be a molecule or a physical or environmental factor. At the cellular level, the receptor is a protein with specificity for the signal molecule; this allows the response pathway to be specific and appropriate. The receptor protein often is the initiation point for a signal cascade that ultimately results in a change in gene expression, protein activity, or physiological state of the cell or organism, including cell death (apoptosis). Defects in any part of the signal pathway often lead to severe or detrimental conditions such as faulty development, metabolic diseases, cancer or death.

Understanding signaling pathways allows humans to modify and manipulate biological systems and physiology. An understanding of the human endocrine system, for example, allowed the development of birth control methods, as well as medicines that control depression, blood pressure and metabolism. Other examples include the ability to control/modify ripening in fruit, agricultural production (growth hormones) and biofilm control.