Cell signalling pathways are triggered when a ligand binds to a receptor to form the ligand-receptor complex. This binding causes a comformational change in the receptor in order to effectively relay the message into the intracellular environment.
For every effective cell, there are generally two classes of cell receptors that are involved in cell signalling. These are; intracellular receptors and the cell surface receptors. Intracellular receptors are found inside the cell cytoplasm or nucleus. Their ligands are usually small and hydrophobic to facilitate easy entrance into the cell through the plasma membrane.
Cell surface receptors on the other hand are those embedded in the plasma membrane of the cell. These receive ligands from the extracellular environment to form a ligand-receptor complex which causes a change in the shape of the receptor and in this way relaying the signal from outside the cell into the cell. These receptors come in different types and they include; Ion channel Receptors, the Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (or the enzyme linked receptors) and the G-protein coupled receptors. Among these three, the GPCRs (G-protein coupled receptors) are the largest family of cell surface receptors.
This presentation, which is free for downloading, introduces the G-protein coupled receptors, what they are and what they do. It also explains about the G-protein themselves what they do. And cholera being among the many disorders that affect the GPCRs is also explained.
We hope this will be instrumental to your cell signalling class, ENJOY!
Download Presentation here...G-PROTEIN RECEPTORS PRESENTATION.pptx
