Autocrine signaling

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Autocrine signaling is a form of signalling in which a cell secretes a hormone, or chemical messenger (called the autocrine agent) that binds to autocrine receptors on the same cell, leading to changes in the cell. This can be contrasted with paracrine signaling, intracrine signalling, or classical endocrine signaling.

[edit] Examples

An example of an autocrine agent is the cytokine interleukin-1 in monocytes. When this is produced in response to external stimuli, it can bind to cell-surface receptors on the same cell that produced it.

Another example occurs in activated T cell lymphocytes, i.e. when a T cell is induced to mature by binding to a peptide:MHC complex on a professional antigen presenting cell and by the B7:CD28 costimulatory signal. Upon activation, "low affinity" IL-2 receptors are replaced by "high affinity" IL-2 receptors consisting of α, β, and γ chains. The cell then releases IL-2 which binds to its own new IL-2 receptors, causing self-stimulation and ultimately a monoclonal population of T cells. These T cells can then go on to perform effector functions such as macrophage activation, B cell activation, and cell-mediated cytoxicity.

[edit] See also

• Paracrine signaling
• Intracrine
• Endocrine system

[edit] External links

• GPnotebook 2140799033
• MeSH Autocrine+signaling
• "Autocrine versus juxtacrine signaling modes" - illustration at sysbio.org

v·d·e Cell physiology: cell signaling
Key concepts	Ligand - Cell signaling networks - Signal transduction - Apoptosis - Second messenger system (Ca2+ signaling, Lipid signaling)
Processes	Paracrine - Autocrine - Juxtacrine - Neurotransmitters - Endocrine (Neuroendocrine)
Types of proteins	Receptor (Transmembrane, Intracellular) - Transcription factor (General, Preinitiation complex, TFIID, TFIIH) - Adaptor protein

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Autocrine signaling. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.