Study the signaling section in the book, and make sure you understand how G proteins work. Consider the following analogy: A spy (Agent #1) slips a coded message into a garbage can. Although many people have thrown paper into this garbage can all day long, they haven't pushed it into the secret slot that sets off a silent alarm. But Spy #1 pushes her message into the secret slot, which sends a signal to the earpiece of the spy (Spy #2) sitting on the park bench next to the garbage can. He then retrieves the message and reads it. The message indicates that it is time to call his agents to action, so he gets on the phone and calls all ten members of his team. They have been waiting for this call; they know just what to do...
1. What does each of the players in the analogy represent: Spy #1, the garbage can, Spy #2, and the team members?
2. Where does signal transduction take place in this analogy?
3 Where does signal amplification take place?
4. Continue the analogy -- what do the team members do, and what does real-life cellular process might this represent?