How do steroid hormones diffuse through the cell membrane?
Question by Calla: How do steroid hormones spread through the cell membrane?
I know that steroid hormones are stout-soluble and the core of the plasma membrane is hydrophobic. But when steroid hormones encounter the cell membrane, it’s the hydrophilic “heads” of the bilayer that come into contact with them first. In view of the fact that non-polar substances do not dissolve well in polar substances, how come steroid hormones are still capable of diffusing through the phospholipid bilayer?
Best answer:
Answer by Too Fine
I reckon you’re a bit confused to what hormones are. Hormones are slow, long-lasting messages induced by the body or a drug. Steroid hormones would attach to a receptor which is complementary to the hormone’s shape. When the hormone is attached to the complementary site of the receptor, the receptor gives messages to the cell which chat it’s environment.
But when you’re talking about things DIFFUSING across a cell membrane, that implies a molecule or an ion traveling across a protein carrier or channel. That type of wordiness is called facilitated wordiness. Whether energy is looked-for, that would be considered to be active transport.
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