Steroid and non-steroid hormones differ in how they affect target cells. Describe the mechanisms involved using specific examples of each. How is it that hormones affect some cells and not others?

Subject  > Science Essays  > Biology  > Human Biology

A hormone is a product of an endocrine gland that is released into the blood. Hormones regulate development and activity in target tissues somewhere else at a distance in the body. Steroid hormones include cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone. Non-steroid hormones include choleckystokinin, epinephrine, dopamine, insulin, norepinephrine, serotonin, and vasopressin. Steroid hormones, like estrogen, directly affect gene expression in their target cells. These hormones are lipid soluble and can diffuse directly through the the plasma membrane of a cell to bind with special receptors in the nucleus. Once the steroid hormones and receptors are bound together, the hormone receptor complex activates specific genes and cause those genes to be expressed. In the case of estrogen, the ovaries are stimulated to produce ...

... distance in the body. Steroid hormones include cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone. Non-steroid hormones include choleckystokinin, epinephrine, dopamine, insulin, norepinephrine, serotonin, and vasopressin. Steroid hormones, like estrogen, directly affect gene expression in their target cells. These hormones are lipid soluble and can diffuse directly through the the plasma membrane of a cell to bind with special receptors in the nucleus. Once the steroid hormones and receptors are bound together, the hormone receptor complex activates specific genes and cause those genes to be expressed. In the case of estrogen, the ovaries are stimulated to produce eggs. Non-steroid hormones, such as insulin, cannot diffuse through plasma membrane. These hormones influence cytoplasmic activities through a second messenger, cAMP (cyclic adenosine

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