stimulate vs activate - (Nov/12/2012 )
Which one should I use in term of recepter and ligand.
Ligand activate recepter
Licand stimulate recepter
I'd say: "A ligand activates a receptor." (As they function as activator then.)
What if the ligand/receptor is an inhibitory signal?
I would probably say either:
The ligand binds the receptor... or
The ligand complexes with the receptor
But obviously, if the ligand/receptor interaction you are talking about is in fact an activatory one, then I think using either activate or stimulate is probably fine (I'd use activate though, as we do tend to talk about activation or inhibition, rather than stimulation).
I agree with hobglobin; even if an inihibitory pathway is triggered receptor-dependently, the ligand has activated the receptor;
I would rather use the term "stimulation" in the context of a cell reaction or physiological process