Simplified Illustration of GTP Signal Transduction
Click on the links in the scheme below to access the corresponding product pages:
Each of the human body's 1013 cells has to react constantly to external signals and to signals of other cells. The recognition, processing and transduction of these signals by intracellular signaling pathways regulate nearly all biological processes, e.g. metabolism, growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. The interference or dysfunction of signaling pathways may lead to strong disturbances of the normal cell functions and even to the transition of a normal cell into a tumor cell.
Many signal transduction processes are regulated by GTP binding proteins (G-proteins) like small GTPases of the Ras superfamily or heterotrimeric G-proteins. The G-proteins act as molecular switches cycling between an inactive GDP-bound state and an active GTP-bound state.
