‘We need to talk’: how do cells communicate?

How two living cells talk to each other has significant implications on how the overall body function of any living organism is synchronized. To this end, chemical messengers (neurotransmitters, peptides, hormones, immune regulators etc.) filled secretory vesicles' fusion with the plasma membrane serves a critical role. During membrane fusion, secretory vesicles fuse with the plasmalemma to form the fusion pores. These pores are the first aqueous connection between the lumen of secretory vesicles and the extracellular space, through which chemical messengers release from one cell to interact with the neighboring cells. The amount of these messengers secreted dictates the fate of cell-to-cell communication, under normal and pathological conditions. How does this secretion process is regulated by proteins/lipids, will be described.