A signal reaches a cell mostly in the form of a signalling molecule binding to a receptor on the cell surface. This binding activates a chain of events that amplifies the signal and transfers it inside the cell. Protein kinases phosphorylate proteins and cause their activation or deactivation, or in general modify their activity. When a signalling molecule binds to a receptor, a cascade is activated and the second messengers, such as cAMP, are synthesized. cAMP molecules activate the protein kinases, which phosphorylate specific proteins and activate them.