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Second messengers are intracellular signaling molecules released by the cell to trigger physiological changes such as proliferation, differentiation, migration, survival, and apoptosis. Secondary messengers are therefore one of the initiating components of intracellular signal transduction cascades. Examples of second messenger molecules include cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, inositol trisphosphate, diacylglycerol, and calcium. The cell releases second messenger molecules in response to exposure to extracellular signaling molecules—the first messengers. First messengers are extracellular factors, often hormones or neurotransmitters, such as epinephrine, growth hormone, and serotonin. Because peptide hormones and neurotransmitters typically are biochemically hydrophilic molecules, these first messengers may not physically cross the phospholipid bilayer cell membrane to initiate changes within the cell directly—unlike steroid hormones, which usually do. This functional limitation necessitates the cell to devise signal transduction mechanisms to transduce first messenger into second messengers, so that the extracellular signal may be propagated intracellularly. An important feature of the second messenger signaling system is that second messengers may be coupled downstream to multi-cyclic kinase cascades to greatly amplify the strength of the original first messenger signal.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Second messengers )〕 For example, Ras.GTP signals link with the Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) cascade to amplify the allosteric activation of proliferative transcription factors such as Myc and CREB. Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., discovered second messengers, for which he won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Sutherland saw that epinephrine would stimulate the liver to convert glycogen to glucose (sugar) in liver cells, but epinephrine alone would not convert glycogen to glucose. He found that epinephrine had to trigger a second messenger, cyclic AMP, for the liver to convert glycogen to glucose.〔 〕 The mechanisms were worked out in detail〔(The Discovery of G Proteins )〕〔(Signal Transduction in Cells ), Nobelprize.org〕 by Martin Rodbell and Alfred G. Gilman, who won the 1994 Nobel prize. Secondary messenger systems can be synthesized and activated by enzymes, for example, the cyclases that synthesize cyclic nucleotides, or by opening of ion channels to allow influx of metal ions, for example Ca2+ signaling. These small molecules bind and activate protein kinases, ion channels, and other proteins, thus continuing the signaling cascade. ==Types of secondary messenger molecules== There are three basic types of secondary messenger molecules: * Hydrophobic molecules: water-insoluble molecules such as diacylglycerol, and phosphatidylinositols, which are membrane-associated and diffuse from the plasma membrane into the intermembrane space where they can reach and regulate membrane-associated ''effector proteins'' * Hydrophilic molecules: water-soluble molecules, such as cAMP, cGMP, IP3, and Ca2+, that are located within the cytosol * Gases: nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which can diffuse both through cytosol and across cellular membranes. These intracellular messengers have some properties in common: * They can be synthesized/released and broken down again in specific reactions by enzymes or ion channels. * Some (such as Ca2+) can be stored in special organelles and quickly released when needed. * Their production/release and destruction can be ''localized'', enabling the cell to limit space and time of signal activity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「second messenger system」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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