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Protein and peptide hormones

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Protein and peptide hormones are commonly synthesised in a precursor form which is processed before incorporation into secretory granules within secretory vesicles.

Following stimulation by circulatory or neural signals, the secretory cell releases the stored hormones by exocytosis of the secretory vesicles.

There are often two pools of hormone:

  • readily releasable: this represents recently synthesised hormone which is rapidly released in response to a short secretory stimulus

  • slowly releasable: in response to a chronic stimulus, hormone is secreted at a steady basal rate; this represents hormone from cellular storage sites in addition to the hormone produced by continued de novo synthesis

Peptide hormones circulate unbound in the plasma at low concentrations. The relatively large size of protein and peptide hormones prevents rapid renal excretion.

Peptide hormones bind receptors on the surface of target cells and modulate the levels of secondary messengers within those cells.

Examples of secondary messengers include:

  • cyclic AMP for ACTH
  • calcium for angiotensin II

Secondary messengers trigger further events which may, for example, modulate protein expression or alter membrane ion transport.

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