Final answer:
Lipid-soluble hormones can diffuse through cell membranes and bind to intracellular receptors to regulate gene transcription, affecting long-term cell functions, while hormone types that are not lipid-soluble bind to cell surface receptors and trigger rapid signaling pathways for short-term responses.
Step-by-step explanation:
Lipid-soluble hormones are types of hormones that can easily pass through the cell membrane due to their lipid-friendly nature. Once these hormones are released from endocrine cells, they travel in the bloodstream, usually attached to transport proteins. At the target cell, they detach from the transport protein and diffuse across the plasma membrane. Unlike water-soluble hormones, lipid-soluble hormones can directly enter cells and bind to intracellular receptors, which may be located in the cytoplasm or the nucleus. When a lipid-soluble hormone binds to its receptor, it forms a hormone-receptor complex that can move into the nucleus and regulate gene transcription, affecting the production of specific proteins that can alter the cell's structure and function over the long term.On the other hand, hormones that are not lipid-soluble cannot pass through the cell membrane directly. These hormones, such as amino acid-derived and polypeptide hormones, bind to receptors on the cell's surface, initiating a signaling pathway inside the cell. This pathway involves various molecules, known as second messengers, such as cyclic AMP (cAMP). The activation of this pathway leads to various cellular responses, such as changes in membrane permeability, and the synthesis of proteins and enzymes, usually over a short term.