Question

List the three basic ways hormones act on their target cells.

Answer 1

Hormones act on their target cells by directly binding to intracellular hormone receptors and modulating gene expression, indirectly binding to cell surface receptors and simulating signaling pathways, and varying the number of receptors on a target cell in response to hormone activity.

Step-by-step explanation:

Hormones cause changes in target cells by binding to specific cell-surface or intracellular hormone receptors, molecules embedded in the cell membrane or floating in the cytoplasm with a binding site that matches a binding site on the hormone molecule. In this way, even though hormones circulate throughout the body and come into contact with many different cell types, they only affect cells that possess the necessary receptors.

The three basic ways hormones act on their target cells are:

1. Directly binding to intracellular hormone receptors and modulating gene expression (transcription and translation).
2. Indirectly binding to cell surface receptors and simulating signaling pathways.
3. Varying the number of receptors on a target cell in response to hormone activity.