B-cell receptor

The B-cell receptor or BCR is a transmembrane receptor protein located on the outer surface of B cells. The receptor's binding moiety is composed of a membrane-bound antibody that, like all antibodies, has a unique and randomly determined antigen-binding site (see V(D)J recombination). When a B cell is activated by its first encounter with an antigen that binds to its receptor (its "cognate antigen"), the cell proliferates and differentiates to generate a population of antibody-secreting plasma B cells and memory B cells. The B cell receptor (BCR) has two crucial functions upon interaction with the antigen. One function is signal transduction, involving changes in receptor oligomerization. The second function is to mediate internalization for subsequent processing of the antigen and presentation of peptides to helper T cells. BCR functions are required for normal antibody production, and defects in BCR signal transduction may lead to immunodeficency, and B-cell malignancy.

Receptor (biochemistry)

In biochemistry and pharmacology, a receptor is a protein-molecule that receives chemical-signals from outside a cell. When such chemical-signals bind to a receptor, they cause some form of cellular/tissue-response, e.g. a change in the electrical-activity of a cell. In this sense, a receptor is a protein-molecule that recognises and responds to endogenous-chemical signals, e.g. an acetylcholine-receptor recognizes and responds to its endogenous-ligand, acetylcholine. However, sometimes in pharmacology, the term is also used to include other proteins that are drug-targets, such as enzymes, transporters and ion-channels.

Receptor-proteins are embedded in all cells' plasmatic-membranes; facing extracellular-(cell surface receptors), cytoplasmic (cytoplasmic-receptors), or in the nucleus (nuclear receptors). A molecule that binds to a receptor is called a ligand, and can be a peptide (short-protein) or another small molecule such as a neurotransmitter, hormone, pharmaceutical-drug, toxin, or parts of the outside of a virus or microbe. The endogenously designated-molecule for a particular receptor is referred to as its endogenous-ligand. E.g. the endogenous-ligand for the nicotinic-acetylcholine receptor is acetylcholine but the receptor can also be activated by nicotine and blocked by curare.