What is the key protein kinase that integrates inputs from multiple sources like growth factors and nutrients to regulate cell growth, and is the target of the drug rapamycin?

Correct answer: TOR (in mammals, mTOR)

Explanation

This question identifies mTOR as a master regulator of cell growth that integrates diverse signals, a concept crucial for understanding cell metabolism and cancer.

Other questions

Question 1

Which form of intercellular signaling involves a signaling cell secreting local mediators that act only on cells in the immediate environment?

Question 2

What concentration of signal molecules is typically required for them to act, and what corresponding affinity do their receptors usually have for them?

Question 3

The largest class of molecular switches in intracellular signaling consists of proteins that are activated or inactivated by what process?

Question 4

What is the function of a GTPase-activating protein (GAP)?

Question 5

Approximately how many G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are there in humans?

Question 6

How does cholera toxin cause the severe diarrhea that characterizes cholera?

Question 7

How does an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration lead to the activation of protein kinase C (PKC)?

Question 8

Which property of CaM-kinase II allows it to function as a molecular memory device, remaining active even after the initial Ca2+ signal has decayed?

Question 9

GPCR desensitization, where a target cell's response diminishes over time despite a prolonged signal, depends on the phosphorylation of the GPCR by which class of kinases?

Question 10

What is the primary role of the protein Grb2 in the RTK-Ras signaling pathway?

Question 11

In the mammalian Ras–MAP kinase signaling pathway, what are the common names for the three kinases that form the module, in order from upstream (activated by Ras) to downstream?

Question 12

How does the PI 3-kinase–Akt signaling pathway promote cell survival?

Question 13

Which class of receptors acts through cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, such as JAKs, because they themselves lack an intrinsic kinase domain?

Question 14

What is the direct consequence of a TGF-beta dimer binding to its receptor complex?

Question 15

In the Notch signaling pathway, what is the role of the protease complex gamma-secretase?

Question 16

What is the primary function of the degradation complex containing APC, axin, GSK3, and CK1 in the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway?

Question 17

In the Hedgehog signaling pathway, where are most of the early signaling components, such as Patched and Smoothened, concentrated?

Question 18

How do pro-inflammatory signals like TNF-alpha lead to the activation of the latent transcription regulator NF-kappa-B?

Question 19

How do small hydrophobic signal molecules like steroid hormones differ from most other extracellular signals in their mechanism of action?

Question 20

In the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, the core circadian oscillator is composed of which three proteins?

Question 21

In plant signaling, what is the largest family of cell-surface receptors?

Question 22

What is the mechanism by which the gaseous plant hormone ethylene influences gene expression?

Question 23

What is the key feature of a positive feedback loop in a signaling pathway when the feedback is strong?

Question 24

How does an activated GPCR act as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for its associated G protein?

Question 25

What is the typical structure of a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)?

Question 26

In the IP3 signaling pathway, what is the direct role of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)?

Question 27

Approximately what percentage of human proteins contain covalently attached phosphate?

Question 28

What type of interaction domain allows signaling proteins to bind to the charged head groups of specific phosphoinositides produced in the plasma membrane?

Question 29

In vertebrate vision, what is the immediate effect of light-induced activation of rhodopsin in the disc membrane of a rod cell?

Question 30

What percentage of human tumors express hyperactive mutant forms of Ras proteins?

Question 31

In the activation of Ras by a Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK), what is the function of the protein Sos?

Question 32

What is the role of the PTEN phosphatase in the PI 3-kinase signaling pathway?

Question 33

Mutations in the Apc gene, which are found in 80 percent of human colon cancers, lead to the accumulation of which signaling protein?

Question 34

The activation of a transcription regulator CREB by PKA is a key step in transforming a short cAMP signal into a long-term cellular change. What does CREB stand for?

Question 35

In the JAK-STAT pathway, what is the dual role of the SH2 domain on a STAT protein?

Question 36

How is the speed of a cellular response to the removal of a signal related to the turnover rate of the intracellular molecules the signal affects?

Question 37

In the Hedgehog pathway, what is the proposed mechanism by which the Patched receptor inhibits the Smoothened protein?

Question 38

Signaling systems can convert a gradual increase in an extracellular signal into an abrupt, all-or-none response. This sharpening of the response becomes more pronounced as what condition is met?

Question 39

What is the primary mechanism of action for the plant hormone auxin?

Question 40

What are the two major types of protein kinases in eukaryotic cells, categorized by the amino acids they phosphorylate?

Question 41

What is the function of the protein calmodulin?

Question 42

How many human RTKs have been identified, and into how many structural subfamilies are they classified?

Question 43

In the context of intracellular signaling, what is a 'second messenger'?

Question 44

Which protein complex in the Wnt pathway is directly targeted by mutations in 80% of human colon cancers?

Question 45

What is the function of scaffold proteins in signaling pathways?

Question 46

In the activation of the EGF receptor, a type of RTK, how does the kinase domain of one receptor monomer activate the other in the dimer?

Question 47

Which family of Ras superfamily monomeric GTPases is primarily responsible for regulating the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons?

Question 49

What is the effect of a short delay versus a long delay in a negative feedback loop on a signaling response?

Question 50

When a cell is deprived of the appropriate extracellular survival signals, what process does it typically undergo?