Pathway

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Signaling Pathway

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A signaling pathway is a chain of proteins that relays signals in the cell. These signals tell the cell to do something, like grow, divide, die. They can also tell the cell to make more or less of a particular protein. Signals can come from inside the cell. But often, the signal is a protein or a chemical outside the cell. Many of these signals need to get to the nucleus. The nucleus is the control center for the cell.  So, the signal is relayed to the nucleus by a chain of proteins. First, a protein on the cell’s surface detects the signal. It then passes the signal to another protein inside the cell. Each protein receives the message, and then passes it on to the next protein in the pathway. Different signals are relayed to the nucleus by different chains of proteins. The chain of proteins provides a pathway for the signal to travel. A signaling pathway is like a running relay. The runners would be like the proteins in the pathway. The baton would be the signal. The first runner passes the baton to the next runner, and that runner starts moving. This goes on until the last runner finishes with the baton.

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All images used with permission

This work was partially funded by a grant from the IMLS (LG-06-13-0180-13).