Question

Can signal transduction pathways talk to each other?

Answer 1

Most definitely!

Explanation:

Signal transduction pathways can indeed talk to eachother and that happens frequently. In textbooks, the signal transduction pathways are presented linearly, but they actually connect to each other in many ways, forming an entire network .

Every step in a signal transduction pathway can be an intercept with another pathway. Forming such a network is important for the cell to be able to process all signals it receives simultaneously from many different receptors.

The main possibilities for communication are:

• Signals from different (types of) receptors can converge to act on the same target.
• One signal can diverge to act in different pathways.
• Signals can be passed back and forth between pathways, this is called crosstalk.