Explanatory articles on autocrine and related cell signaling. They summarise published research for students and general readers and are not peer reviewed.
Guides
- Autocrine Signaling: Self-Stimulation in Cell Biology and Disease
A guide to autocrine signaling: how cells respond to their own secreted ligands, how it compares with paracrine and endocrine signaling, key loops in physiology and cancer, and therapeutic targeting.
- Growth Factor Families: Structure, Receptors, and Signaling
A guide to the main growth factor families (EGF/ERBB, PDGF, FGF, VEGF, IGF, TGF-beta, HGF/MET): their receptors, signaling pathways and roles in disease.
Articles
- Autocrine vs Paracrine vs Endocrine vs Juxtacrine Signaling
How autocrine, paracrine, endocrine and juxtacrine signaling differ, with examples and a comparison table.
- How Autocrine Signaling Shapes Cell Fate
How cells regulate their own behaviour through self-secreted ligands, and why autocrine loops matter in development, immunity and disease.
- Signal Transduction Pathways Activated by Autocrine Ligands
The intracellular pathways (MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, JAK/STAT and Wnt/beta-catenin) switched on when autocrine ligands bind their receptors.
- Growth Factors and Receptor Tyrosine Kinases in Autocrine Loops
How growth factors and receptor tyrosine kinases form autocrine loops that drive proliferation and survival, and how these loops are targeted.
- Growth Factors and Their Receptors: An Overview
An overview of EGF, PDGF, FGF, VEGF and insulin/IGF growth factors, their receptor tyrosine kinases and their autocrine roles in health and disease.
- Cytokines as Autocrine Regulators in Immune Cell Activation
How cytokines such as IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha act as autocrine regulators in T cells, macrophages and other immune cells.
- The IL-2 Autocrine Loop: How T Cells Drive Their Own Expansion
Interleukin-2 autocrine signaling in T lymphocytes: mechanism, regulation, and its relevance to cancer immunotherapy and transplant immunosuppression.
- The Role of Autocrine Signaling in Stem Cell Maintenance
How autocrine Wnt, TGF-beta/Nodal, FGF and IL-6 signaling help stem cells self-renew, and what this means for regenerative medicine.
- Autocrine Signaling in Cancer: How Tumors Hijack Cellular Communication
How cancer cells exploit autocrine loops involving EGFR/TGF-alpha, PDGF, IL-6/STAT3 and VEGF, and the strategies used to target them, with references.
- Understanding the MAPK/ERK Pathway
The Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK cascade step by step: activation, negative feedback, mutations in cancer and therapeutic targeting.
- Targeting Autocrine Pathways in Drug Development
How autocrine loops became drug targets: monoclonal antibodies, small-molecule kinase inhibitors, bispecific antibodies and resistance mechanisms.
- Research Methods in Cell Signaling: From Western Blot to Single-Cell Sequencing
An introduction to laboratory methods for studying signaling pathways: western blotting, ELISA, imaging, flow cytometry, scRNA-seq, CRISPR screens and modelling.