However, it is a known DNA mutagen, and this in turn could lead to carcinogenic effects. Acrolein has also been been linked with heart disease as a contributor, and is one of the most abundant chemicals in cigarette smoke.
1 Steroid hormones pass through the cell membrane of the target cell. 2  The steroid hormone binds with a specific receptor in the cytoplasm. 3  The receptor bound steroid hormone travels into the nucleus and binds to another specific receptor on the chromatin.teroid hormones cause changes within a cell by first passing through the cell membrane of the target cell. Steroid hormones, unlike non-steroid hormones, can do this because they are fat-soluble.
Gonadal sex steroids effects are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and signaling cascades. The term sex steroids is nearly always synonymous with sex hormones (Wikipedia). Steroid hormones in mammals regulate diverse physiological functions such as reproduction, mainly by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, blood salt balance, maintenance of secondary sexual characteristics, response to stress, neuronal function and various metabolic processes(fat, muscle, bone mass).