INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

1. Cells communicate with each other via chemical messengers which bind to protein receptors on their surface, in the cytoplasm or the nucleus to trigger intracellular changes that produce an effect.

2. Types of intercellular communications: neural, endocrine, paracrine, juxtacrine (via cells linking other cells). Cells may stimulate themselves via autocrine communication.

3. These messengers are: amines, amino acids, steroids, polypeptides, lipids, purine/pyrimidine nucleotides. In various parts of the body, the same messenger can be a neurotransmitter, a paracrine mediator, or a hormone.

Reference(s)

Barrett, K.E., Barman, S.M., Brooks, H.L., X, J. and Ganong, W.F. (2019). Ganong’s review of medical physiology. 26th ed. New York: Mcgraw-Hill Education