The Molecular Biology Notebook Online
Hormone
A chemical messenger produced by plant and animal cells or glands and transported through body fluids, blood or sap, to target cells in which it induces a specific reaction. eg. the female sex hormone, oestrogen, produced by the ovary, is transported to the uterus where it brings about the repair and enlargment of the uterine wall.
Another example of an hormone is insulin, produced in the pancreas, released in the blood circulation to regulate glycemia, the level of glucose in the blood.
View the molecule (insulin) in Rasmol
View Dr Chromo's lecture on 'Proteins'.