Your Cells Send Trillions of Messages Every Second, Here’s How
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Published 2020-03-12
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There are trillions of conversations happening between cells or within cells at all times.
Today, we’re going to learn what exactly a cellular message is, and how cells get messages from point A to point B via the language of chemicals. The message cells send out is a chemical called a ligand and these ligands come in all shapes and sizes. A ligand is simply a molecule that binds to a receptor and a receptor is exactly what it sounds like. Ligands and receptors can be on the outside of the cell or within a cell, and as you can imagine, there’s a time and place to use different ligands and receptors.
Once a ligand binds to a receptor, the chemical message gets interpreted and any number of biological reactions can happen—cellular processes can start or speed up or slow down, often leading to a complex chain of events that makes up many of the important processes in our biology. But in this episode of Human, we’re focusing on how exactly messages are spoken and heard between cells and not necessarily what the cells do with that information.
A ton of functions around the body depend on cell communication to happen in a timely manner and in this Human Patrick takes a deep dive into the complexities of the mode of cell communication and why it is such a crucial part of the human body.
#humanbody #cell #health #humanseries #seeker #science #physiology
Read More:
There are 37.2 Trillion Cells in Your Body
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-are-372-tr…
“You know that your body is made of cells - but just how many? Turns out that question isn’t all that easy to answer.”
A Summary of Cell Communication
openoregon.pressbooks.pub/mhccmajorsbio/chapter/a-…
“Receptors are protein molecules inside the target cell or on its surface that receive a chemical signal. Chemical signals are released by signaling cells in the form of small, usually volatile or soluble molecules called ligands.”
Discovery that 'size matters' in cell-to-cell communication could unlock new methods for disease diagnosis and treatment
phys.org/news/2017-03-discovery-size-cell-to-cell-…
“Size really does matter when it comes to the mechanisms that cells use to communicate with each other, according to pioneering new nanobiotechnology research which has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.”
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All Comments (21)
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To think that the human body goes through so much at a molecular level in just one second and we’re not even aware of it. It’s truly amazing and I can always appreciate information about the body.
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my cells are more socialized than me :(
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Cells are sending slow bottle-like messages to other cells through bloodstream, meanwhile nerves are sending electrical impulse messages to other nerves in other parts of body nearly instantaneously.
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Hopefully you don't forget to tell him by the end of the video that some of the cell communication is through electromagnetic energy also
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It’s an endocrime to not appreciate how well this video was made. Amazing job!
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1:30 first time i've ever heard "ligand" pronounced that way, but it checks out, so I'll continue watching.
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As a stem cell researcher I think it is astonishing what we can learn by studing cell-cell interactions. During development, for example, the produrction of certain substances orchestrates what cells stem cells should become by influencing the expression of special genes. A few years ago, one of my personal heroes, Shinya Yamanaka, has found out that we can hijack this principle to convert skin cells back into stem cells in the laboratory. In this manner, people are trying to grow tissues for transplantation while avoiding major ethical concerns (I made some videos about this a while ago)! Amazing what we can accomplish if we study cells!
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Thanks for this episode. You've called it a language that cells use. I presume it is more signalling that happen between them - like, semaphores, protocols, impulses etc.
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The thought that each cells is an immense ocean of chemistry and each of them are incredible as they are - and then they started coordinating so well they could live in colonies we now call multi-cellular organisms.
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Intriguing graphics!!! THX
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I think I had up to 4 conversations with the same person trough different Social Networks at the same time
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Great video: Many Thanks! 👍👍
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So insightful
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Awesome Patrick Kelly
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fantastic!
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Loved the narration style.
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I heard about Arsenic is also used between Cell Communication is that right?
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Brilliant
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Curious on what happened with video quality at 4:55 =)
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Yes, I just wish neurons has a firing rate capable of 100,000 per second, not just 500
