Endomembrane system in our cells. Vesicles carrying cargo molecules move between different cell compartments. (by Mariana Ruiz LadyofHats [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
Most of our cells are just micrometers in size but they contain millions of molecules, some are small as glucose, others – colossal in size as large proteins and nucleic acids.… Read the rest
GPCR proteins undergo changes in their shape (conformation) upon ligand binding. Rhodopsin in the eye retina detects light using its photon-sensitive retinal moiety, while olfactory receptors detect fragrant molecules, which we breathe in. In both cases this triggers signals, which are processed by our brains into senses of vision and smell (to examine more scientifically correct cartoons of GPCR signalling dangerous intellectuals should press the links I provided below)
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Robert J Lefkowitz and Brian K Kobilka for their mechanistic work on G-protein-coupled receptors or GPCRs.… Read the rest
A scheme of animal cloning (converted to SVG by Belkorin, modified and translated by Wikibob [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons)