Overview
Communication between cells is the set of processes by which cells exchange information to coordinate development, physiology, and responses to their environment, maintaining homeostasis across tissues and whole organisms. It is conventionally classified by the distance and route of signaling. In direct communication, adjacent cells exchange small molecules and ions through gap junctions or interact via membrane-bound surface molecules. In chemical signaling, cells release messengers that act locally on neighbors (paracrine), on themselves (autocrine), at synapses, or over long distances through the bloodstream as hormones (endocrine). These signals are detected by specific receptors at the cell surface or within the cell, triggering intracellular signal-transduction cascades that amplify and integrate the message and ultimately alter gene expression, metabolism, secretion, growth, or movement. Such pathways coordinate complex physiology, as in cardiorenal signaling that links heart and kidney function, and they are reshaped by metabolic inputs and nutrients in conditions such as diabetes. Electrical signaling, mediated by changes in membrane potential, allows rapid coordination in excitable tissues. Dysregulated cell communication contributes to cancer, inflammatory disease, and metabolic disorders, making signaling networks important targets in drug discovery and disease modeling. Viewed through a biosemiotic lens, intercellular communication is studied as a fundamental form of biological information transfer, in which molecular signs convey meaning that organizes the behavior of living systems.
Research published in this journal
5 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The Impact of Nutrients on Diabetes
Cardiorenal Signaling Pathways in Heart Failure: Good and Bad News
Space of Cross-Disciplinary Researches of Life, Nature and Society
Bioinformatics of Metabolomics in Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
How this research is being cited
The 5 articles above have been cited 3 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2016 · Journal of Hypertension and Cardiology
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2015 · Molecular Neurobiology
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G. Oxenkrug · 2015 · Molecular Neurobiology
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Communication Between Cells, linking to each citing work.