Introduction to Signal Transduction
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| response | 响应 | xiǎng yìng |
| signal transduction | 信号转导 | xìn hào zhuǎn dǎo |
| reception | 接收 | jiē shōu |
| transduction | 转导 | zhuǎn dǎo |
From outside message to inside action
- A signal arrives at a cell's surface — but the action happens inside.
- Somehow the outside message must be turned into an inside response.
- Cells do this in a clear, three-step process.
- That process is called signal transduction.
Stage 1: reception
- Signal transduction 信号转导 begins with reception 接收.
- The signal molecule binds to a receptor on the cell surface.
- This is the moment the message is picked up.
- The receptor changes shape, ready to pass the message on.
Signal transduction is the process of…
Signal transduction turns a signal arriving outside the cell into a response inside it.
What happens in the first stage, reception?
In reception, the signal molecule binds its receptor — the message is picked up.
Stage 2: transduction
- Next comes transduction 转导 — relaying the message inside.
- The receptor triggers a chain of molecules within the cell.
- Each molecule activates the next, carrying the message onward.
- The outside signal never needs to enter the cell itself.
The three stages are reception, transduction, and ____.
The final stage is the response — the cell actually does something.
In transduction, the signal is relayed by molecules inside the cell.
The receptor does not enter the cell; instead it triggers inside molecules that pass the message on.
Stage 3: response
- Finally the response 响应: the cell actually does something.
- It might switch on a gene, activate an enzyme, or start to move.
- The response is the whole point of the signal.
- Three clean stages take a message from surface to action.
The three stages of signalling
Step through reception, transduction, and response — how an outside signal becomes an inside action.
Select all true statements about signal transduction.
The outside signal usually does not enter the cell at all — the receptor relays it. The other three are correct.
The outside signal usually does not enter the cell. It binds a receptor on the surface, and that receptor sets off inside molecules that carry the message. Think of pressing a doorbell: your finger stays outside, but the sound rings within.
A doorbell for a cell:
- Reception: your finger presses the button (the signal binds the receptor).
- Transduction: wires carry the current inside the house.
- Response: the bell rings — the cell acts. Your finger never went indoors.
Signal transduction converts an outside signal into an inside action in three stages: reception (the signal binds a receptor), transduction (the message is relayed by molecules inside the cell), and response (the cell acts). The signal itself usually stays outside — the receptor relays it in.