High levels of insulin and LDL have identical regulatory effects on the number of their respective cell surface receptors expressed by a cell. For both of these ligand-receptor systems this phenomenon is classified as

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described is known as homologous down-regulation, which refers to a feedback mechanism whereby the binding of a ligand to its receptor leads to a decrease in the number of receptors expressed on the cell surface. In this case, both insulin and LDL are ligands that, when bound to their respective receptors, signal the cell to reduce the number of receptors present.

High Levels of Insulin and LDL Have Identical Regulatory Effects