Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

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.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Optical Analysis of Cyclic Voltammetry of Ferrocenemethanol: A Comparative Study of SPR and LSPR.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026

Same author

Directing Cell Phenotype: Quantitative Single-Cell Migration Assay Leveraging Tunable Extracellular Surfaces.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2025

Same author

A self-supervised learning approach for high throughput and high content cell segmentation.

Communications biology·2025

Same author

Texture-Induced Strain in a WS<sub>2</sub> Single Layer to Monitor Spin-Valley Polarization.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2024

Same author

Strain distribution in WS<sub>2</sub> monolayers detected through polarization-resolved second harmonic generation.

Scientific reports·2024

Same author

Topographical depth reveals contact guidance mechanism distinct from focal adhesion confinement.

Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)·2024

Same journal

Localized Nitric Oxide Release from a Ciprofloxacin Hybrid Conjugate Enables Potent Disruption of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Biofilms.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

Same journal

Biofunctionalization of Bacterial Cellulose with FucoPol Enhances Keratinocyte Activity and Wound Closure.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

Same journal

Nanocomplex-Integrated Multifunctional Hydrogel for Fast-Tracked Wound Repair Application: A Preclinical Evaluation.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

Same journal

Covalently Integrated Polymeric Aza-BODIPY J-Aggregates with NIR-II Absorption for Leakage-Free Photothermal Therapy.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

Same journal

Bioengineered Silicon-Doped Graphdiyne Conjugated with Amino Acid Derivatives for Levodopa Delivery: A DFT-Based Nanoplatform.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

Same journal

In Situ Synthesis of Rapid Hemostatic Zeolite/Gauze Composites on Pre-Seeded Gauze.

ACS applied bio materials·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials

Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials

Published on: March 9, 2017

Interfacing Live Cells with Surfaces: A Concurrent Control Technique for Quantifying Surface Ligand Activity.

Michael C Robitaille¹, Joseph A Christodoulides¹, Patrick J Calhoun²

¹Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375-5320, United States.

ACS Applied Bio Materials

|January 10, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Directly measuring surface ligand activity with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and live cell microscopy improves cell adhesion interpretations. This concurrent control method quantifies ligand activity, enhancing understanding of cell signaling and biomaterial interactions.

Keywords:

RGD bioavailability cell adhesion integrins live-cell microscopy phenotype surface activity surface plasmon resonance

More Related Videos

Multimodal Analytical Platform on a Multiplexed Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Chip for the Analysis of Extracellular Vesicle Subsets

Multimodal Analytical Platform on a Multiplexed Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Chip for the Analysis of Extracellular Vesicle Subsets

Published on: March 17, 2023

In-vivo Detection of Protein-protein Interactions on Micro-patterned Surfaces

In-vivo Detection of Protein-protein Interactions on Micro-patterned Surfaces

Published on: March 19, 2010

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials

Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials

Published on: March 9, 2017

Multimodal Analytical Platform on a Multiplexed Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Chip for the Analysis of Extracellular Vesicle Subsets

Multimodal Analytical Platform on a Multiplexed Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Chip for the Analysis of Extracellular Vesicle Subsets

Published on: March 17, 2023

In-vivo Detection of Protein-protein Interactions on Micro-patterned Surfaces

In-vivo Detection of Protein-protein Interactions on Micro-patterned Surfaces

Published on: March 19, 2010

Area of Science:

Biomaterials Science
Cell Biology
Surface Chemistry

Background:

Surface ligand activity is critical for cell-material interactions in vitro and in medical applications.
Current methods often assume ligand activity rather than directly measuring it, leading to variable interpretations of cell adhesion.
Accurate quantification of surface ligand activity is needed to bridge the gap between assumed and actual surface properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a concurrent control technique for directly characterizing in vitro surface ligand activity.
To correlate direct measurements of ligand activity with observed cell phenotypes.
To demonstrate how direct activity measurements refine the interpretation of cell-surface interactions compared to assumed activity.

Main Methods:

Developed a parallel workflow using gold-coated glass chips biofunctionalized with RGD ligand.
Utilized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to quantify RGD ligand activity by measuring binding kinetics with recombinant αVβ3 integrins.
Correlated SPR-derived activity measurements with cell morphological features of MDA-MB-231 cells cultured on parallel in vitro chips using live cell microscopy.

Main Results:

Successfully developed a concurrent control technique to directly measure in vitro surface ligand activity.
Demonstrated that interpretations of cell phenotype can significantly differ when based on direct activity measurements versus assumed activity.
Showcased the utility of SPR for sensitive ligand activity quantification across relevant surface densities.

Conclusions:

Directly measuring surface ligand activity provides a more accurate basis for understanding cell adhesion and signaling.
The SPR concurrent control approach offers a standardized and sensitive method for characterizing surface ligand activity.
This technique enables robust correlations between quantified ligand activity and diverse cellular responses observed via live cell microscopy.