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

Interactions Between Signaling Pathways

Interactions Between Signaling Pathways

Signaling cascades usually lack linearity. Multiple pathways interact and regulate one another, allowing cells to integrate and respond to diverse environmental stimuli.
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...

Overview of Cell Signaling

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?

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.

Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses

Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses

The physiological function of a cell and cellular communication are outcomes of a range of extrinsic signals, intracellular signaling pathways, and cellular responses. No two cell types express the same repertoire of signaling components. Receptors are highly selective for their cognate ligands, but once activated, they can alter multiple cellular processes such as DNA transcription, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity.
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...

Mitogens and the Cell Cycle

Mitogens and the Cell Cycle

Mitogens and their receptors play a crucial role in controlling the progression of the cell cycle. However, the loss of mitogenic control over cell division leads to tumor formation. Therefore, mitogens and mitogen receptors play an important role in cancer research. For instance, the epidermal growth factor (EGF) - a type of mitogen and its transmembrane receptor (EGFR), decides the fate of the cell's proliferation. When EGF binds to EGFR, a member of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinase...

Signal Transduction: Overview

Signal Transduction: Overview

Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. They respond to chemical signals, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and other signaling molecules, initiating a series of molecular reactions to produce an appropriate response. This is called signal transduction. Cells also coordinate different responses elicited by the same signaling molecule via mediators, allowing molecular cross-talk.
Typically, signal transduction involves three...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Convergence of Cell Biology and Developmental Biology: A Report of the Joint Meeting of the 77th JSCB and the 58th JSDB.

Development, growth & differentiation·2026

Same author

Cellular fitness is determined by ribosomal protein S12-mediated release of a truncated Xrp1.

Cell reports·2026

Same author

Genetic landscaping of cell competition uncovers two core pathways mediated by Xrp1 or Eiger/TNF in Drosophila.

Genetics·2026

Same author

Blockade of Crk eliminates Yki/YAP-activated tumors via JNK-mediated apoptosis in Drosophila.

Communications biology·2024

Same author

Sas-Ptp10D shapes germ-line stem cell niche by facilitating JNK-mediated apoptosis.

PLoS genetics·2023

Same author

Editorial note: flying high in Japan.

Fly·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2025

A Proximal Culture Method to Study Paracrine Signaling Between Cells

A Proximal Culture Method to Study Paracrine Signaling Between Cells

Published on: August 28, 2018

Cell competition: emerging signaling and unsolved questions.

Rina Nagata¹, Tatsushi Igaki¹

¹Laboratory of Genetics, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Japan.

|February 14, 2024

Summary

Cell competition eliminates unfit cells in multicellular organisms through cell-cell interactions. Reduced protein synthesis in "loser" cells, often due to eIF2α phosphorylation, is a key mechanism.

Keywords:

Drosophila TOR signaling autophagy cell competition cell death eIF2α protein synthesis

More Related Videos

Induction and Diagnosis of Tumors in Drosophila Imaginal Disc Epithelia

Induction and Diagnosis of Tumors in Drosophila Imaginal Disc Epithelia

Published on: July 25, 2017

Detecting Protein Subcellular Localization by Green Fluorescence Protein Tagging and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole Staining in Caenorhabditis elegans

Detecting Protein Subcellular Localization by Green Fluorescence Protein Tagging and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole Staining in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: July 30, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 3, 2025

A Proximal Culture Method to Study Paracrine Signaling Between Cells

A Proximal Culture Method to Study Paracrine Signaling Between Cells

Published on: August 28, 2018

Induction and Diagnosis of Tumors in Drosophila Imaginal Disc Epithelia

Induction and Diagnosis of Tumors in Drosophila Imaginal Disc Epithelia

Published on: July 25, 2017

Detecting Protein Subcellular Localization by Green Fluorescence Protein Tagging and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole Staining in Caenorhabditis elegans

Detecting Protein Subcellular Localization by Green Fluorescence Protein Tagging and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole Staining in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: July 30, 2018

Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Cell Biology
Genetics

Background:

Multicellular organisms optimize structure and function through cell-cell communication.
Cell competition, the elimination of unfit cells, drives self-organization in multicellular systems.
Recent studies link reduced protein synthesis to "loser" cells in various cell competition models.

Purpose of the Study:

To review emerging signaling mechanisms in cell competition.
To discuss the role of protein synthesis inhibition in cell competition.
To highlight critical unsolved questions in the field.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on cell competition.
Analysis of signaling pathways involved in cell competition.
Focus on the role of protein synthesis and translation initiation factors.

Main Results:

Reduced protein synthesis is a common feature of "loser" cells across different cell competition types.
In Drosophila, Xrp1-mediated phosphorylation of eIF2α inhibits protein synthesis in loser cells.
Cell competition may function to remove stressed cells, optimizing multicellular fitness.

Conclusions:

Cell competition is a vital mechanism for maintaining multicellular fitness.
Protein synthesis regulation, particularly eIF2α phosphorylation, is central to cell competition.
Further research is needed to fully elucidate the signaling networks and implications of cell competition.