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Related Concept Videos

Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

Overview of 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 with 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...
Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

Overview of 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 with 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...
What is Cell Signaling?02:03

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 to respond to the environment.
What is Cell Signaling?02:03

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 to respond to the environment.
Types of Signaling Molecules01:32

Types of Signaling Molecules

In multicellular organisms, many molecules transmit signals between cells to pass information. These signals vary in complexity and include small peptides, nucleotides, steroids, fatty acid derivatives, and dissolved gases such as nitric oxide. Some signaling molecules diffuse through the plasma membrane to act locally between neighboring cells or travel long distances. Others remain attached to the cell surface, transmitting information to other cells only when they make contact. In some...
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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Applications of Spatio-temporal Mapping and Particle Analysis Techniques to Quantify Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling In Situ
09:34

Applications of Spatio-temporal Mapping and Particle Analysis Techniques to Quantify Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling In Situ

Published on: January 7, 2019

Spatially distributed cell signalling.

Boris N Kholodenko1

  • 1Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Boris.Kholodenko@ucd.ie

FEBS Letters
|October 6, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cellular signaling gradients, generated by enzyme localization, create distinct spatial domains. These gradients enable cells to process spatial information and perform computations.

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Area of Science:

  • Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Signal transduction cascades involve complex spatial organization of enzymes like kinases and phosphatases.
  • The localization of enzymes creates microdomains and spatial gradients of signaling activity within cells.
  • Protein diffusivity can vary between active and inactive states, influencing spatial distribution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how spatial gradients and microdomains of signaling activity arise in cellular systems.
  • To understand the role of enzyme localization and protein diffusivity in generating spatial signaling patterns.
  • To investigate the computational capabilities of signaling networks through spatial information processing.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of spatial gradients in signal transduction pathways.
  • Modeling of enzyme localization and protein diffusion dynamics.
  • Investigation of feedback and feedforward network motifs in signaling cascades.

Main Results:

  • Distinct cellular localization of opposing enzymes (e.g., kinase, phosphatase) leads to spatial gradients.
  • Differential diffusivity between active and inactive protein forms results in spatial protein abundance gradients.
  • Spatially distributed signaling cascades generate step-like activation profiles and digital positional information.
  • Network motifs enable signaling networks to perform spatial computations.

Conclusions:

  • Spatial organization of signaling enzymes and differential protein diffusivity are key mechanisms for generating cellular spatial information.
  • Signaling networks function as sophisticated cellular devices capable of spatial computation.
  • Understanding these spatial dynamics is crucial for deciphering cellular information processing.