LOWER SIX PUSAT TUISYEN KASTURI PREPARED BY

BIOLOGY LESSON 5 T.K. LEONG

TOPIC: BASIC CHEMISTRY OF A CELL (5)

MOVEMENT OF SUBTANCES IN AND OUT OF CELLS

Plasma membranes are only about 7nm wide but they present barriers to the movement of ions
and molecules, particularly polar molecules such as glucose and amino acids that are repelled by
the non-polar, hydrophobic lipids of membranes. This prevents the aqueous contents of the cell
form escaping.

However, transport across membranes must still occur for a number of reasons, for example;

(i) To obtain nutrients

(ii) To excrete waste substances
(iii) To secrete useful substances
(iv) To generate the ionic gradient essential for nervous and muscular activity
(v) To maintain the suitable pH and ionic concentration within the cell for enzyme activity

Substances move in and out of cells by the following processes;

a. Diffusion
b. Facilitated diffusion
c. Osmosis
d. Active transport
e. Bulk transport (endocytosis and exocytosis)

PASSIVE TRANSPORT
Passive transport is the movement of ions and molecules down their concentration gradient. This
process does not require ATP or energy expenditure.

Diffusion
 Diffusion is the random movement of molecules or ions from a region of their high
concentration to a region of their low concentration down a diffusion gradient.

 The process is passive.

 That is it does not require energy and happens spontaneously.

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Example:

If a bottle of perfume were opened in a closed room, the perfume would eventually spread by
diffusion until equilibrium was reached where the perfume was evenly spread throughout the
room. This occurs by the random motion of molecules which is due to their kinetic energy.

 Three factors in particular affect the rate of diffusion

(i) The steepness of the diffusion gradient, or difference in concentration between

point A and point B.
Example: To enhance gaseous exchange by speeding up the flow of blood through
the lungs or by breathing faster.

(ii) The greater the surface area of a membrane through which diffusion is taking
place.
Example: Microvilli increase the surface area of animal cells for absorption
purposes.

(iii) Rate of diffusion decreases rapidly with distance. (It falls in proportion to the
square of the distance)
Diffusion is therefore only effective over very short distances. This is another factor
which limits cell size.

Cells rely on diffusion for internal transport of molecules so most are no larger than
50µm in diameter, with no part of the cell more than 25µm from the cell surface.
Example: An amino acid molecule, for example, can travel a few micrometres in
several seconds but would take several days to diffusion a few centimetres.

It is also essential that membranes are thin so that molecules or ions can cross
them rapidly.

The factors affecting the rate in which molecules cross cell membranes by diffusion
are summarised in Fick’s Law. The rate is proportional to;

Surface area of membrane X difference in concentration

across the membrane

thickness of membrane

 We can now consider which molecules cross membranes by diffusion. The respiratory
gases oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse rapidly through membranes. Water molecules,
although very polar, are small enough to pass between the hydrophobic phospholipid
molecules without interference. However, ions and larger polar molecules such as amino
acids, sugars, fatty acids and glycerol are repelled by the hydrophobic region of the
membrane and diffuse across extremely slowly.

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Facilitated Diffusion of Ions and Molecules
Transmembrane proteins form channels or acts as transport proteins to facilitate and to increase
the rate of diffusion across cell membrane. Since this diffusion would not be possible without the
protein or proteins, the process is known as facilitated diffusion.

Channel Protein
These contain water-filled hydrophilic channels or pores whose shape is specific for a particular
ions or molecules.
Channel proteins have a fixed shape.
Transport proteins which allow the passage of ions are called ion channels. Ion channels are
usually “gated”, which mean they can exist in open or closed states.
Example: Voltage-gated ion channel in impulse transmission.
There are also specialised channels for water, known as aquaporins.
Carrier Proteins
Carrier proteins undergo rapid changes in shape, up to 100 cycles per second. They exist in two
forms, known as the ‘ping’ and ‘pong’ states.
The binding of glucose to a specific carrier protein causes the molecule to change its shape and the
glucose molecule is released into the cell.

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OSMOSIS
Osmosis is the passive movement of water (solvent molecule) from a region of higher
concentration of water molecules across a partially permeable membrane to a region of lower
concentration.

Water potential (ψ)

Water molecules possess kinetic energy, which means that in liquid or gaseous form they move
about rapidly and randomly from one location to another. The greater the concentration of water
molecules in a system, the greater the total kinetic energy of water molecules in that system and
the higher its so-called water potential.

If two systems containing water are in contact, the random movements of water molecules will
result in the net movement of water molecules from the system with higher water potential to
the system with lower water potential until the concentration of water molecules in both systems
is equal.

There are several main points;

 Pure water has the maximum water potential, which by definition is zero.
 Water always moves from a region of higher ψ to region of lower ψ.
 All solution have lower water potential than pure water and therefore have negative
values of ψ.

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Solute Potential (ψs)
The effect of dissolving solute molecules in pure water is to reduce the concentration of water
molecules and hence to lower the water potential.

The amount of this lowering is known as solute potential. In other words, solute potential is a
measure of the change in water potential of a system due to the presence of solute molecules.

ψs is always negative. The more solute molecules present, the lower is ψ s (more negative).

Solute potential is the force of attraction towards water molecules caused by dissolved
substances inside the solution.

Pressure Potential (ψp)

If pressure is applied to pure water or a solution, its water potential increases. This is because the
pressure is tending to force the water from one place to another.

Example:

When water enters plant cells by osmosis, pressure may build up inside the cell making the cell
turgid and increasing the pressure potential.

Pressure potential is usually positive.

Water Potential In a plant

Water potential is affected by both solute potential and pressure potential, and the following
equation summarises the relationship between the two terms;

Water potential = solute potential + pressure potential

Solute potential is always negative and pressure potential is usually positive.

The cell wall is usually freely permeable to substances in solution, so it is not important in osmosis.
The cell contains a large central vacuole whose contents, the cell sap, contribute to the solute
potential of the cell.

The two important membranes are the cell surface plasma membrane and the tonoplast.

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If a plant cell is in contact with a solution of lower water potential than its own contents, then the
water leaves the cell by osmosis through the cell surface membrane.

Water is lost first from the cytoplasm and then from the vacuole through the tonoplast. The
protoplast, that is the living content of the cell surrounded by the cell wall, shrinks and eventually
pulls away from the cell wall. This process is called plasmolysis.

The point at which plasmolysis about to happen is called incipient plasmolysis. At incipient
plasmolysis the protoplast has just ceased to exert any pressure against the cell wall, so the cell is
flaccid.

Water continues to leave the protoplast until its contents have the same water potential as the
external solution.

The process of plasmolysis is usually reversible without permanent damage to the cell. If a
plasmolysed cell is placed in pure water or a solution of higher water potential than the content of
the cell, water enters the cell by osmosis. As the volume of the protoplast increases it begins to
exert pressure against the cell wall and stretches it. The wall is strong and relatively rigid, so the
pressure inside the cell rises rapidly. The pressure is called the pressure potential.

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