Mirielsa A.

Palor
Period 7
th
and 8
th

12/19/13
HORMONES

Protein hormones are structured in short chains of amino acids, due to their length they are
flexible. They are also water soluble and they are too large to pass through the plasma membrane. Once
released into the blood stream they travel receptor site of the target cell to modify the cellular activity
which occurs on the surface of a cell. Hormones and receptors are like a key and a lock, once a
hormone is released and travels through the bloodstream, it goes to the binding site as a signal and fit
into the receptor to activate it to respond, this activation occurs within the cell rapidly once the
hormone binds with the receptor. One example of a protein hormone is somatroropin hormone also
known as the growth hormone targets liver and bones and increases metabolism and growth in bones.
Steroid hormones are composed of three six membered rings and one five membered ring. These
organic compounds are easily seen visually by their steroid nucleus which is called
cyclopentanophenanthrene. Steroid hormone is called a steroid hormone due to its steroid nucleus
which produces cholesterol, as we recall cholesterol is in the phospholipid bilayer to maintain fluidity
of the plasma membrane. It has been declared that cholesterol might be what allows the steroid
hormone to pass through the plasma membrane into the cell. Due to cholesterol they can pass through
the phospholipid bilayer then attach into a specific receptor also called binding site inside the cell
which activates it and changes the proteins structure. Since steroid hormones are involved in the
synthesis of proteins the activation occurs very slowly. One example of a steroid hormone would be
estrogen which is a female sex hormone secreted in the ovaries, testes in men, and small amounts in the
adrenal glands. This hormone helps in the development of the female primary and secondary sex
characteristics, as well as stimulate growth and skeletal maturation. One interesting fact about this
hormone is that when women are going through menopause the production of estrogen plummets
which is probably one factor of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. As mentioned before once
proteins hormones are released they travel through the blood stream to the target cell then attach to the
receptor in the binding site outside of the plasma membrane to activate it, this activation occurs rapidly.
One example of a protein hormone would be insulin, the hormone insulin is released when our blood
sugar is too high, insulin works with glucagon to regulate the bodys blood sugar level. This hormone is
classified to be protein hormone derivative since it's function is essential to our body. When we
consume food our blood sugar shoots up, so insulin hormone is then released to regulate it. This
hormone has to respond rapidly because if it does not the consequences can be fatal. On the other hand
Steroid hormones are the opposite, they also travel through the blood stream attached to protein carriers
to go to target cells and bind to a receptor internally to the cell. Since steroid hormone are involved in
protein synthesis the must bind to the receptor inside the cell to work very slowly. One example is
testosterone which is produced in the testes to start the secondary sexual characteristics for boys. They
stimulate the production of sperms and development in genitals. In a step by step process the steroid
hormone is carried through the blood stream by a carrier protein which dispatches the hormone once it
has arrived to the target cell. The hormone then passes through the plasma membrane attaching to a
specific receptor in the cytoplasm and then moving through the endomembrane of the nucleus as a
hormone receptor complex that then binds to a region of the DNA which are known as hormone
response elements. The binding of the hormone receptor complex has a direct effect on the
transcription of this site to produce mRNA which codes for synthesis of specific proteins. When a
protein hormone reaches the target cell it attaches to the receptor on the surface of the cell, then the
activated receptor activates enzymes because they are too large to enter. These hormones then trigger a
secondary messenger called cyclic- AMP to activate enzymes inside the cell which produces a desire to
response.