Final answer:
The absence of receptors for paracrine signals means animal cells will likely not respond to growth factors from nearby cells, which can lead to impaired growth and other local responses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most likely fate of animal cells that lack receptors for local paracrine signal molecules is that they will not respond to growth factors from nearby cells. Paracrine signaling involves signals that act locally between cells that are close together. These signals move by diffusion through the extracellular matrix and are essential for a number of cellular responses, including the response to growth factors. Without the receptors to detect these signals, cells will fail to receive the necessary cues for such functions, which could result in impaired cellular processes such as growth, healing, differentiation, and other responses to the local cellular environment.
It's important to note that this lack of paracrine signaling would not directly affect other types of signaling, such as hormonal (endocrine) or neurotransmitter (synaptic) signaling, unless those pathways were also reliant on the affected paracrine pathways. Additionally, while cell division via mitosis is influenced by growth factors, the inability to receive paracrine signals alone does not mean the cell will be unable to divide, though it might not divide at the appropriate times or conditions, lacking these local signals.