From the Static to the Dynamic: Three Models of Signal Transduction in G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Ligand binding to cell surface receptors initiates a series of events known as signal transduction. In this process, receptors alter the states of other proteins, which in turn leads to an avalanche of changes inside the cell. The cell uses this avalanche of information to describe what is occurring in the cellular environment and then alters its behavior accordingly. Without signal transduction, the cell would be blind to many environmental changes, making the cellular cooperation we see in most organisms

impossible. Thus understanding signal transduction is key to understanding how cells communicate with each other and how we can communicate with cells as well.