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Nodal Signaling Pathway
The Nodal signaling pathway is a signal transduction pathway important in regional and cellular differentiation during embryonic development. The Nodal family of proteins, a subset of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) superfamily, is responsible for mesoendoderm induction, patterning of the nervous system, and determination of dorsal- ventral axis in vertebrate embryos. Activation of the Nodal pathway involves nodal binding to activin and activin-like receptors which leads to phosphorylation of the Smad2. The P-Smad2/ Smad4 complex translocates into the nucleus to interact with transcription factors such as FoxH1, p53 and Mixer ('' Xenopus'' mix-like endodermal regulator). This will, in turn, lead to induction of target genes such as NODAL, Lefty, the antagonist of nodal cerberus, and others. The activation of the Nodal pathway induces the transcription of many target genes including of its own, but at the same time, micro-RNAs and other proteins interfere with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signal Transduction
Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results 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. These molecular events are the basic mechanisms controlling cell growth, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
