Chapter 30 The tissue matrix: Cell signaling and hormone regulation

Abstract

A majority of the research investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in cell signaling by hormones has focused on soluble messages. While these are clearly important in the hormonal regulation of cell process and gene expression, the role of the structural systems in the cell have typically been ignored. The tissue matrix system consists of the structural components of the cell and its extracellular environment, including the extracellular matrix, the cytoskeleton, and the nuclear matrix. The elements of the tissue matrix system all dynamically interact with hormones and play an important role in the regulation of a number of signaling events found under hormone regulation. In addition, the nuclear matrix, the structural component of the nucleus, is an important determinant of the three-dimensional organization of DNA within the nucleus and all nuclear processes. Thus, the tissue matrix system, and the nuclear matrix, in particular, is uniquely positioned to play a central role in the hormonal regulation of gene expression.