Receiver. Catcher. Satellite dish. Radio. Receptor. What do they all have in common?

You probably already guessed that they all sit there, waiting to get something: Information, baseballs, television and radio signals, and …. ligands?

A receptor in our body is just like all the other receivers in the world. These proteins sit within the membrane of our cells. On the outside they have a little pocket, for which certain kinds of ligands (proteins, chemicals, etc.) can bind to. some receptors are very specific to particular ligands.

On the inside, they have a transmitter, which is activated when the ligand binds to the receptor, causing some kind of reaction inside the cell. So they operate at the interface between the environment and the inside of the cell.

Sometimes the signal produced leads to changes to the DNA inside the nucleus, causing certain genes to be activated or deactivated.

You could say that a television with poor reception is broken, but a person with bad receptors… well that’s a bigger problem.