Hormone/chemical coordination

Steroid hormones activate genes

1. Steroid hormones (sex hormones and hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex) are secreted by an
endocrine gland and transported to a target cell.
2. Steroid hormones are small, lipid-soluble molecules that pass freely through the plasma membrane
3. The hormone combines with a receptor either in the cytoplasm or in the nucleus
4. The steroid hormone-receptor complex binds with DNA.
5. This activates (or represses) specific genes, leading to mRNA transcription and
6. synthesis of specific proteins. The proteins cause the response recognised as the hormones action.
The mechanism of steroid hormone action
Steroid hormones are lipid-soluble and thus readily diffuse through the plasma membrane of cells. They bind to
receptor proteins in either the cytoplasm or nucleus. If the steroid binds to a receptor in the cytoplasm, the
steroid-receptor complex moves into the nucleus. The steroid-receptor complex then binds to specific regions of
the DNA, stimulating the production of messenger RNA (mRNA). The messenger RNA enters the cytoplasm
and is translated into new proteins, such as enzymes, which carry out a particular function.
The action of adrenaline (epinephrine) on a liver cell
1. Adrenaline binds to specific receptor proteins on the cell surface.
2. Acting through intermediary G proteins, the hormone-receptor complex (hormone-bound receptor)
activates the enzyme adenyl cyclase (adenylyl cyclase), which converts ATP into cyclic AMP (cAMP).
3. Cyclic AMP performs as a second messenger and activates protein kinase (kinase-A), an enzyme that
was previously present in an inactive form.
4. Protein kinase (kinase-A) phosphorylates and thereby activates the enzyme glycogen phophorylase,
which catalyses the hydrolysis of glycogen into glucose-1-phosphate.
5. The overall effect of adrenaline in this situation is therefore to release glucose. At each stage in the
process an amplification occurs because only a few molecules of adenyl cyclase are needed to activate
many molecules of protein kinase, and so on. This is the cascade effect.
Mechanism of action of hormones that use cyclic AMP (cAMP)
Mechanism of non-steroid hormone via activation of cyclic AMP system
1. Adrenaline and many peptide hormones are transported in the blood.
2. They bind with receptors in the plasma membrane of a target cell.
3. The hormone-receptor combination is coupled by a G protein to adenylyl cyclase. The adenylyl cyclase
catalyses the conversion of ATP to cyclic AMP, a second messenger.
4. Cyclic AMP then activates one or more enzymes that
5. phosphorylate proteins.
6. These proteins alter the activity of the cell in some way.