- "Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events."
Study of the regulation of biochemical processes within cells, including feedback inhibition, enzyme co-factors, and signal transduction pathways.
Enzymes: The properties and functions of enzymes, including enzyme kinetics, enzyme inhibitors, and enzyme regulation.
Metabolism: An overview of metabolism, including the different types of metabolic pathways, energy metabolism, and the role of enzymes in metabolism.
Biochemical pathways: An overview of common biochemical pathways, including glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and photosynthesis.
Protein structure: The structure of proteins, including protein folding, protein domains, and the different levels of protein structure.
Gene expression: The regulation of gene expression, including transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, and the role of non-coding RNAs in gene expression.
Signal transduction: The mechanisms of signal transduction, including the different types of signaling molecules, receptors, and downstream signaling pathways.
Metabolic regulation: The regulation of metabolism, including the role of hormones and the effect of diet on metabolism.
Carbohydrate metabolism: The metabolism of carbohydrates, including the regulation of glucose homeostasis and the role of carbohydrates in energy metabolism.
Lipid metabolism: The metabolism of lipids, including the synthesis and breakdown of fats and cholesterol, and the role of lipids in membrane structure and energy metabolism.
Amino acid metabolism: The metabolism of amino acids, including the synthesis and breakdown of proteins, and the role of amino acids in energy metabolism and signal transduction.
Metabolic disorders: An overview of common metabolic disorders, including diabetes, obesity, and inherited metabolic disorders.
Molecular biology techniques: The molecular biology techniques used in biochemistry research, including DNA cloning, PCR, and protein purification.
Bioinformatics: The use of computational tools and methods to analyze and interpret biological data, including sequence analysis, biochemical pathway analysis, and functional genomics.
Chemical biology: The intersection between chemistry and biology, including the design and synthesis of small molecule probes and drugs for studying and manipulating biological systems.
Protein engineering: The design and engineering of proteins with new or improved functions, including enzyme engineering and protein-based therapeutics.
Allosteric regulation: This type of regulation occurs when an enzyme's activity is altered by the binding of a specific molecule to a site other than its active site.
Covalent modification: This type of regulation involves the addition or removal of chemical groups, such as phosphate or methyl groups, to an enzyme or protein, which can alter its activity.
Feedback inhibition: In this type of regulation, the final product of a metabolic pathway inhibits an earlier enzyme in the pathway to prevent the overproduction of the product.
Hormonal regulation: This type of regulation involves the binding of specific hormones to receptors on target cells to initiate a response, often involving the modification of enzymes or gene expression.
Transcriptional regulation: This type of regulation involves the control of gene expression through the binding of transcription factors to specific sequences on DNA, either promoting or inhibiting transcription.
Post-transcriptional regulation: This type of regulation involves the control of gene expression after transcription has occurred, typically involving mechanisms such as alternative splicing or RNA interference.
Metabolic flux control: This type of regulation involves the coordination of multiple enzymes and pathways to ensure that metabolic flux is optimized for the needs of the cell.
- "Most commonly, protein phosphorylation is catalyzed by protein kinases, ultimately resulting in a cellular response."
- "Proteins responsible for detecting stimuli are generally termed receptors, although in some cases, the term sensor is used."
- "The changes elicited by ligand binding (or signal sensing) in a receptor give rise to a biochemical cascade, which is a chain of biochemical events known as a signaling pathway."
- "When signaling pathways interact with one another, they form networks, which allow cellular responses to be coordinated, often by combinatorial signaling events."
- "At the molecular level, such responses include changes in the transcription or translation of genes, and post-translational and conformational changes in proteins, as well as changes in their location."
- "Signal transduction pathways regulate cell communication in a wide variety of ways."
- "Ligands are termed first messengers, while receptors are the signal transducers."
- "Receptors then activate primary effectors."
- "Second messengers, which can activate secondary effectors, and so on."
- "Depending on the efficiency of the nodes, a signal can be amplified (a concept known as signal gain), so that one signaling molecule can generate a response involving hundreds to millions of molecules."
- "The transduction of biological signals is characterized by delay, noise, signal feedback and feedforward, and interference, which can range from negligible to pathological."
- "With the advent of computational biology, the analysis of signaling pathways and networks has become an essential tool to understand cellular functions and disease."
- "These molecular events are the basic mechanisms controlling cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, and many other processes."
- "Each component (or node) of a signaling pathway is classified according to the role it plays with respect to the initial stimulus."
- "Changes in their location. These molecular events are the basic mechanisms controlling cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, and many other processes."
- "Changes in the transcription or translation of genes."
- "The changes elicited by ligand binding (or signal sensing) in a receptor give rise to a biochemical cascade."
- "Signaling rewiring mechanisms underlying responses to acquired drug resistance."
- "Networks [...] allow cellular responses to be coordinated, often by combinatorial signaling events."