Vertebrate organisms must maintain homeostatic conditions of optimal blood glucose levels. This essay will describe the pancreatic hormones, such as insulin and glucagon, used to regulate blood glucose levels, the mechanism in terms of target cells, reception, transduction, and response, and compare the cell-signaling mechanisms of steroid and protein hormones.
Two pancreatic hormones that regulate blood glucose levels are insulin and glucagon. When blood glucose level rises above the normal level, insulin is released to decrease the blood glucose concentration. On the other hand, when blood glucose level drops below the normal level, glucagon is released to promote the release of glucose, increasing blood glucose concentration. Together, these hormone help maintain homeostasis.
Insulin can stimulate nearly all body cells, except red blood cells or brain cells, to take insulin from the blood. First, in the reception stage, insulin binds to receptor tyrosine kinase on the surface of the cell. This causes two receptor …show more content…
Both hormones aim to signal a cellular response in the target cell. A difference between these hormones is that steroid hormones are fat based, meaning that they are hydrophobic. Since they are nonpolar, this allows the hormone to cross the nonpolar cell membrane. The hormone then binds to a receptor protein, activating it. This complex enters the nucleus and binds to specific genes. It acts as a transcription factor and stimulates the transcription of the gene into mRNA. These interactions are slow, nevertheless continual. On the other hand, protein hormones are water-soluble, meaning that they are hydrophilic. This means that they cannot cross the hydrophobic cell membrane. The hormone attaches onto the receptors outside the membrane. The signal is send across the membrane by g protein-coupled receptor or the receptor tyrosine kinases. The responses are powerful, but