Signal Transduction

AP Biology· difficulty 3/5

epinephrine (1×) adenylyl cyclase cAMP (×100) PKA active phosphorylase kinase (×10⁴) glycogen → glucose (×10⁸ molecules)

Why does one molecule of epinephrine release millions of glucose molecules?

  • A

    Hormones bypass enzymes entirely

  • B

    Multi-step phosphorylation cascades amplify the original signal

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  • C

    Glucose is stored as a pre-made signal

  • D

    Each epinephrine molecule binds millions of receptors simultaneously

Explanation

At each stage of the cascade, one active enzyme can produce many active downstream enzymes—giving exponential amplification of the original hormone signal.

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