Different Types of Chemical Signals Can Be Received by Cells Hormones: produced at great distances from their target tissues and carried in the circulatory system to various sites Growth factors: released locally, acting on nearby tissue Many messengers are Hydrophilic Compounds: First messenger: Ligand Second Messenger: such as cyclic AMP and calcium Signal transduction: the ability of a cell to translate a Receptor-Ligand Interaction to change in its behavior or gene expression Hydrophobic messengers Act on nuclear receptors or cytosol, regulate the transcription of particular genes Steroid hormones