Receptor (biochemistry)
hideIn biochemistry, a receptor is a protein molecule, embedded in either the plasma membrane or cytoplasm of a cell, to which a mobile signaling (or "signal") molecule may attach. A molecule which binds to a receptor is called a "ligand," and may be a peptide (such as a neurotransmitter), a hormone, a pharmaceutical drug, or a toxin, and when such binding occurs, the receptor undergoes a conformational change which ordinarily initiates a cellular response. However, some ligands merely block receptors without inducing any response (e.g. antagonists). Ligand-induced changes in receptors result in physiological changes which constitute the biological activity of the ligands.
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News tagged with cell surface
EphA4 -- the molecular transformer
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Oct 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- EphA4 is a protein which is attached to the surfaces of many types of human cells and plays a role in a wide range of biological processes. EphA4 functions by binding to ephrin ligands, cell ...
Milestone discovery in cell behaviors
Oct 14, 2009 |
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A team of international molecular scientists, led by a Monash University researcher has discovered a new, fast mechanism by which cells communicate change - for example their location during spreading of a cancer in the human ...
New approach for growing bone
Oct 07, 2009 |
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The natural cycle of building bone to maintain skeletal strength and then breaking it down for the body's calcium needs is delicately balanced, but diseases like osteoporosis break down too much bone without adequate bone ...
Critical link in cell death pathway revealed
Jul 22, 2009 |
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The role of a protein called XIAP in the regulation of cell death has been identified by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers and has led them to recommend caution when drugs called IAP inhibitors are ...
'Genetic arms race' between bacteria, viruses subject of stimulus grant
Jul 02, 2009 |
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The oceans teem with microscopic bacteria that produce much of Earth's oxygen as they absorb carbon dioxide greenhouse gas. But fast-mutating viruses also populate the seas, attacking marine bacteria in an ...
Bacteria with a built-in thermometer
May 20, 2009 |
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Researchers in the "Molecular Infection Biology group" at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Braunschweig Technical University could now demonstrate for the first time that bacteria ...
Sugar on bacteria surface serves as base for a web of resistance
Apr 21, 2009 |
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The bacteria responsible for chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients use one of the sugars on the germs' surface to start building a structure that helps the microbes resist efforts to kill them, new research shows.
Taking the conversation inside: Enhancing signals in cell interior
Mar 19, 2009 |
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Scientists used to think most of the exchange of information between cells was conducted at the surface, where cell receptors receive signals from other cells.
When intestinal bacteria go surfing
Mar 19, 2009 |
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The bacterium Escherichia coli is part of the healthy human intestinal flora. However, E. coli also has pathogenic relatives that trigger diarrhea illnesses: enterohemorrhagic E.coli bacteria. During the course of an inf ...
Technique tricks bacteria into generating their own vaccine
Feb 23, 2009 |
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Scientists have developed a way to manipulate bacteria so they will grow mutant sugar molecules on their cell surfaces that could be used against them as the key component in potent vaccines.
How protein receptors on cells switch on and off
Biology /
Jan 16, 2009 |
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Cornell researchers have provided new insight into the molecular mechanism underlying an essential cellular system. They have discovered how receptors on cell surfaces turn off signals from the cell's environment, ...
A new mechanism regulates type I interferon production in white blood cells
Jan 12, 2009 |
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A study from a team of researchers led by Dr. Andrew P. Makrigiannis, Director of the Molecular Immunology Research Unit at the IRCM, has identified a new mechanism regulating interferon production. This discovery, co-authored ...
Researchers find molecule that targets brain tumors
Dec 29, 2008 |
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UC Davis Cancer Center researchers report today the discovery of a molecule that targets glioblastoma, a highly deadly form of cancer. The finding, which is published in the January 2009 issue of the European Journal of Nu ...
