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Related Concept Videos

Contact-dependent Signaling01:19

Contact-dependent Signaling

Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

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Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

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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 with the environment.
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What is Cell Signaling?02:03

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Microtubules in Signaling01:22

Microtubules in Signaling

The primary cilium, made up of microtubules, acts as antennae on the cell surfaces for relaying external stimuli into the cells. These fine hair-like structures are present, generally one per cell. These are non-motile cilia in a 9+0 microtubules arrangement, where the central pair of microtubules are absent. The primary cilia arise from the basal body embedded in the cell membrane. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) carries requisite proteins from the cytoplasm to the cilium because the primary...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Dissection of Local Ca2+ Signals in Cultured Cells by Membrane-targeted Ca2+ Indicators
11:33

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Published on: March 22, 2019

Ca2+ lightning conveys cell-cell contact information inside the cells.

Masaya Hashido1, Kenji Hayashi, Kenzo Hirose

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

EMBO Reports
|October 14, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Cells in contact generate localized calcium signals, termed "calcium lightning," which regulate cell-cell repulsion through a PYK2-dependent pathway, revealing a novel communication mechanism.

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Signaling pathways

Background:

  • Cells utilize adhesion and repulsion for tissue organization.
  • The mechanism converting cell-cell contact into intracellular signals is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how cell-cell contact information is transmitted into intracellular signals.
  • To identify the signaling molecules involved in this process.

Main Methods:

  • Live-cell imaging of intracellular calcium signals.
  • Analysis of calcium signals at cell-cell contact sites.
  • Investigating the role of PYK2 in calcium-mediated cell repulsion.

Main Results:

  • Cells in contact exhibit localized, transient intracellular calcium signals (calcium lightning).
  • Calcium lightning occurs near contact regions, not in cell centers or solitary cells.
  • Calcium lightning regulates cell-cell repulsion via PYK2, a calcium-activated tyrosine kinase, promoting focal adhesion disassembly.

Conclusions:

  • Cell-cell contact information is transmitted via calcium lightning.
  • Calcium lightning regulates intracellular events, including cell-cell repulsion.
  • This signaling pathway offers new insights into cell communication and tissue morphogenesis.