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Three Hormone Chemical Classes

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Hormones divide into three chemical classes: lipid-derived steroid hormones, amino acid-derived hormones, and peptide hormones, distinguished chiefly by whether they can diffuse across a plasma membrane.

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Testosterone, a steroid hormone, diffuses directly across a target cell's membrane; insulin, a peptide hormone, cannot.

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A hormone's chemical class predicts its receptor location, not its potency — small amino acid-derived hormones can have large effects.

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