Hormone

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Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus") are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones; plant hormones are also called phytohormones. Hormones in animals are often transported in the blood. Cells respond to a hormone when they express a specific receptor for that hormone. The hormone binds to the receptor protein, resulting in the activation of a signal transduction mechanism that ultimately leads to cell type-specific responses.

Endocrine hormone molecules are secreted (released) directly into the bloodstream, while exocrine hormones (or ectohormones) are secreted directly into a duct, and from the duct they either flow into the bloodstream or they flow from cell to cell by diffusion in a process known as paracrine signalling.

For more information about Hormone, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with hormone

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Scientists reveal secrets of drought resistance

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0

A team of biologists in California led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego has solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts. ...


Presidential election outcome changed voters' testosterone

Presidential election outcome changed voters' testosterone

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Young men who voted for Republican John McCain or Libertarian candidate Robert Barr in the 2008 presidential election suffered an immediate drop in testosterone when the election results were ...


Ice cream may target the brain before your hips, study suggests

Ice cream may target the brain before your hips, study suggests

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2

Blame your brain for sabotaging your efforts to get back on track after splurging on an extra scoop of ice cream or that second burger during Friday night's football game.


Multiple sclerosis successfully reversed in animals

Multiple sclerosis successfully reversed in animals

Medicine & Health / Research

created Aug 11, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (60) | comments 17

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at ...


At long last, how plants make eggs

At Long Last, How Plants Make Eggs

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- A long-standing mystery surrounding a fundamental process in plant biology has been solved by a team of scientists at the University of California, Davis.


Estrogen controls how the brain processes sound

Estrogen controls how the brain processes sound

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Scientists at the University of Rochester have discovered that the hormone estrogen plays a pivotal role in how the brain processes sounds.


Autism linked with stress hormone levels

Medicine & Health / Research

created Apr 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Some of the symptoms of the autistic condition Asperger Syndrome, such as a need for routine and resistance to change, could be linked to levels of the stress hormone cortisol, suggests new research led by the University ...


Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer

Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer (w/ Podcast)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A compound in coffee has been found to be estrogenic in studies by Texas AgriLife Research scientists.


Drought resistance explained

Drought resistance explained

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Much as adrenaline coursing through our veins drives our body's reactions to stress, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is behind plants' responses to stressful situations such as drought, but how it does ...


Study uncovers key to how 'triggering event' in cancer occurs

Study uncovers key to how 'triggering event' in cancer occurs

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered what leads to two genes fusing together, a phenomenon that has been shown to cause prostate cancer to develop.


The making of the male brain (estrogen required)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Territorial behavior in male mice might be linked to more "girl-power" than ever suspected, according to new findings at UCSF. For the first time, researchers have identified networks of nerve cells in the brain that are ...


Excess body weight causes over 124,000 new cancers a year in Europe

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Sep 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

At least 124,000 new cancers in 2008 in Europe may have been caused by excess body weight, according to estimates from a new modelling study. The proportion of cases of new cancers attributable to a body mass index of 25kg/m2 ...


New genetic link between cardiac arrhythmias and thyroid dysfunction identified

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Sep 20, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Genes previously known to be essential to the coordinated, rhythmic electrical activity of cardiac muscle -- a healthy heartbeat -- have now also been found to play a key role in thyroid hormone (TH) biosynthesis, according ...


Conflict between plant and animal hormones in the insect gut?

Conflict between plant and animal hormones in the insect gut?

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Cis-OPDA (12-oxophytodienoic acid) is a highly reactive plant hormone which simultaneously serves as a precursor molecule of the metabolic "master switch" jasmonic acid. Both signal herbivory in leaves and ...


Hormone promises to keep joint injuries from causing long-term osteoarthritis

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 12, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 2

An existing osteoporosis drug is the first ever found to prevent cartilage loss from osteoarthritis following injury to a joint, and may also regenerate some cartilage that has been lost to osteoarthritis, according to an ...