A co-receptor is a cell surface receptor that binds a signalling molecule in addition to a primary receptor in order to facilitate ligand recognition and initiate biological processes, such as entry of a pathogen into a host cell.
The term co-receptor is prominent in literature regarding signal transduction, the process by which external stimuli regulate internal cellular functioning. The key to optimal cellular functioning is maintained by possessing specific machinery that can carry out tasks efficiently and effectively. Specifically, the process through which intermolecular reactions forward and amplify extracellular signals across the cell surface has developed to occur by two mechanisms.
First, cell surface receptors can directly transduce signals by possessing both serine and threonine or simply serine in the cytoplasmic domain. They can also transmit signals through adaptor molecules through their cytoplasmic domain which bind to signalling motifs. Secondly, certain surface receptors lacking a cytoplasmic domain can transduce signals through ligand binding. Once the surface receptor binds the ligand it forms a complex with a corresponding surface receptor to regulate signalling. These categories of cell surface receptors are prominently referred to as co-receptors. Co-receptors are also referred to as accessory receptors, especially in the fields of biomedical research and immunology.
Co-receptors are proteins that maintain a three-dimensional structure. The large extracellular domains make up approximately 76–100% of the receptor. The motifs that make up the large extracellular domains participate in ligand binding and complex formation.
The motifs can include glycosaminoglycans, EGF repeats, cysteine residues or ZP-1 domains. The variety of motifs leads to co-receptors being able to interact with two to nine different ligands, which themselves can also interact with a number of different co-receptors.
Most co-receptors lack a cytoplasmic domain and tend to be GPI-anchored, though a few receptors have been identified which contain short cytoplasmic domains that lack intrinsic kinase activity.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. White blood cells include three main subtypes; granulocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes. White cells is most preferred rather than the, white blood cells, because, they spend most of their time in the lymph or plasma. All white blood cells are produced and derived from multipotent cells in the bone marrow known as hematopoietic stem cells.
The Interleukin-1 family (IL-1 family) is a group of 11 cytokines that plays a central role in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses to infections or sterile insults. Discovery of these cytokines began with studies on the pathogenesis of fever. The studies were performed by Eli Menkin and Paul Beeson in 1943–1948 on the fever-producing properties of proteins released from rabbit peritoneal exudate cells. These studies were followed by contributions of several investigators, who were primarily interested in the link between fever and infection/inflammation.
Neurotrophic factors (NTFs) are a family of biomolecules – nearly all of which are peptides or small proteins – that support the growth, survival, and differentiation of both developing and mature neurons. Most NTFs exert their trophic effects on neurons by signaling through tyrosine kinases, usually a receptor tyrosine kinase. In the mature nervous system, they promote neuronal survival, induce synaptic plasticity, and modulate the formation of long-term memories.
Presentation of selected signalling pathways with emphasis on both the mechanism of action of the molecules involved, molecular interactions and the role of their spatio-temporal organization within t
Explores T and B lymphocyte maturation, receptor gene rearrangement, diversity generation, TCR structure, immunological synapse, and signaling pathways.
Communication across membranes controls critical cellular processes and is achieved by receptors translating extracellular signals into selective cytoplasmic responses. While receptor tertiary structures can be readily characterized, receptor associations ...
A key attribute of persistent or recurring bacterial infections is the ability of the pathogen to evade the host's immune response. Many Enterobacteriaceae express type 1 pili, a pre-adapted virulence trait, to invade host epithelial cells and establish pe ...
Targeting cells specific to type and state remains a challenge in developing effective therapies, sensitive diagnostics, also robust and versatile tissue engineering. A promising strategy is to focuses on improving the inherent selectivity of the targeting ...