Body and drug basics
Signalling pathway
Last updated
A signalling pathway is the relay of steps inside a cell between something attaching at the surface and the cell actually changing what it does. One molecule activates the next, which activates the next, like a line of falling dominoes. The relay matters because it amplifies: a small number of receptors being switched on can produce a large change inside the cell.
Why it matters here
This site keeps mechanisms and pathways as separate kinds of entry, and a mechanism acts on a pathway. Knowing which is which stops a molecular detail from being read as a whole-body outcome.
What it is not
Not the same as a metabolic pathway, which is a chain of chemical conversions of substances rather than a relay of instructions. The word pathway on its own is ambiguous, and this site's Biological Pathway domain is a broader grouping again, sitting above individual mechanisms.
Also called
- signalling pathway
- signaling pathway
- signalling cascade
- signaling cascade
- signal transduction
- signalling
- signaling
Also called signal transduction, transduction meaning the conversion of a signal from one form into another as it passes down the chain.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.