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Cell-surface Signaling

Cell-surface Signaling

Hormones—or any molecule that binds to a receptor, known as a ligand—that are lipid-insoluble (water-soluble) are not able to diffuse across the cell membrane. In order to be able to affect a cell without entering it, these hormones bind to receptors on the cell membrane. When a first messenger, a hormone, binds to a receptor, a signal cascade is set off, causing second messengers, proteins inside the cell, to become activated, resulting in downstream effects.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Establishing Single-Cell Based Co-Cultures in a Deterministic Manner with a Microfluidic Chip

Establishing Single-Cell Based Co-Cultures in a Deterministic Manner with a Microfluidic Chip

Published on: September 27, 2019

Single-cell level co-culture platform for intercellular communication.

Soongweon Hong¹, Qiong Pan, Luke P Lee

¹Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, Department of Bioengineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

Integrative Biology : Quantitative Biosciences From Nano to Macro

|March 22, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a novel single-cell co-culture platform to precisely study cell-cell interactions. The platform reveals how cell proximity influences migration and proliferation, offering new insights into intercellular communication.

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Last Updated: May 23, 2026

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Published on: September 27, 2019

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A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

Published on: June 16, 2016

Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Biotechnology
Systems Biology

Background:

Cellular fate is significantly influenced by interactions within their microenvironment.
Current techniques struggle to fully characterize the complexity and heterogeneity of cell-cell communication.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a single-cell co-culture platform for studying dynamic intercellular communication.
To simplify the analysis of complex cell-cell interactions by focusing on single-cell pairs.

Main Methods:

A novel platform enabling sequential cell trapping and dynamic fluidic resistance variation for heterotypic cell pairing.
Individual, semi-isolated culture chambers allowing cell migration, proliferation, and continuous medium refreshment.
Tracking and quantitative characterization of stem cell-fibroblast pairs over multiple generations.

Main Results:

Demonstrated the platform's ability to maintain and track single-cell pair interactions.
Observed that paired cells' migration patterns are dependent on initial proximity.
Quantitatively characterized distinct proliferation patterns in heterotypic versus homotypic pairings.

Conclusions:

The developed platform provides a detailed and quantitative understanding of cellular communication.
Highlights the impact of cell-cell interactions on cell behavior, including migration and proliferation.
Offers a versatile tool for investigating complex biological systems at the single-cell level.