CELL TRANSPORT

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
DESCRIBE THE PROCESSES THAT TRANSPORT
SUBSTANCES ACROSS THE PLASMA MEMBRANE.
• TRANSPORT OF MATERIALS ACROSS THE PLASMA
MEMBRANE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE LIFE OF A CELL.
• SUBSTANCES GENERALLY MOVE ACROSS CELLULAR
MEMBRANES VIA TRANSPORT PROCESSES THAT CAN
BE CLASSIfiED AS PASSIVE OR ACTIVE.
• IN PASSIVE PROCESSES, A SUBSTANCE MOVES DOWN ITS CONCENTRATION OR ELECTRICAL
GRADIENT TO CROSS THE MEMBRANE USING ONLY ITS OWN KINETIC ENERGY (ENERGY OF
MOTION).
• IN ACTIVE PROCESSES, CELLULAR ENERGY IS USED TO DRIVE THE SUBSTANCE “UPHILL”
AGAINST ITS CONCENTRATION OR ELECTRICAL GRADIENT. THE CELLULAR ENERGY USED IS
USUALLY IN THE FORM OF ATP.
 PASSIVE TRANSPORT

• DIFFUSION IS A PASSIVE PROCESS IN WHICH THE RANDOM MIXING OF PARTICLES IN A SOLUTION

OCCURS BECAUSE OF THE PARTICLES’ KINETIC ENERGY.
 SEVERAL FACTORS INflUENCE THE DIFFUSION RATE OF SUBSTANCES ACROSS PLASMA MEMBRANES:
A. STEEPNESS OF THE CONCENTRATION GRADIENTOF THE MEMBRANE, THE HIGHER THE RATE OF DIFFUSION.
B. TEMPERATURE. THE HIGHER THE TEMPERATURE, THE FASTER THE RATE OF DIFFUSION.
C. MASS OF THE DIFFUSING SUBSTANCE. THE LARGER THE MASS OF THE DIFFUSING PARTICLE, THE SLOWER ITS
DIFFUSION RATE. SMALLER MOLECULES DIFFUSE MORE RAPIDLY THAN LARGER ONES.
D. SURFACE AREA. THE LARGER THE MEMBRANE SURFACE AREA AVAILABLE FOR DIFFUSION, THE FASTER THE
DIFFUSION RATE.
E. DIFFUSION DISTANCE. THE GREATER THE DISTANCE OVER WHICH DIFFUSION MUST OCCUR, THE LONGER IT
TAKES.
 SIMPLE DIFFUSION
• A PASSIVE PROCESS IN WHICH SUBSTANCES MOVE FREELY THROUGH THE LIPID BILAYER OF THE
PLASMA MEMBRANES OF CELLS WITHOUT THE HELP OF MEMBRANE TRANSPORT PROTEINS.
 FACILITATED DIFFUSION

• SOLUTES THAT ARE TOO POLAR OR HIGHLY CHARGED TO MOVE THROUGH THE LIPID BILAYER
BY SIMPLE DIFFUSION CAN CROSS THE PLASMA MEMBRANE BY A PASSIVE PROCESS CALLED
FACILITATED DIFFUSION. IN THIS PROCESS, AN INTEGRAL MEMBRANE PROTEIN ASSISTS A
SPECIfiC SUBSTANCE ACROSS THE MEMBRANE.
• CHANNEL-MEDIATED FACILITATED DIFFUSION - IN CHANNEL MEDIATED FACILITATED DIFFUSION,
A SOLUTE MOVES DOWN ITS CONCENTRATION GRADIENT ACROSS THE LIPID BILAYER
THROUGH A MEMBRANE CHANNEL.
• CARRIER-MEDIATED FACILITATED DIFFUSION - IN CARRIER MEDIATED FACILITATED DIFFUSION, A
CARRIER (ALSO CALLED A TRANSPORTER) IS USED TO MOVE A SOLUTE DOWN ITS
CONCENTRATION GRADIENT ACROSS THE PLASMA MEMBRANE.
 OSMOSIS
• OSMOSIS IS A TYPE OF DIFFUSION IN WHICH THERE IS NET MOVEMENT OF A SOLVENT
THROUGH A SELECTIVELY PERMEABLE MEMBRANE. LIKE THE OTHER TYPES OF DIFFUSION,
OSMOSIS IS A PASSIVE PROCESS. IN LIVING SYSTEMS, THE SOLVENT IS WATER, WHICH MOVES
BY OSMOSIS ACROSS PLASMA MEMBRANES FROM AN AREA OF HIGHER WATER
CONCENTRATION TO AN AREA OF LOWER WATER CONCENTRATION.
• PRESSURE EXERTED IN THIS WAY BY A LIQUID, KNOWN AS
HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE, FORCES WATER MOLECULES TO MOVE
BACK INTO THE LEFT ARM. EQUILIBRIUM IS REACHED WHEN JUST AS
MANY WATER MOLECULES MOVE FROM RIGHT TO LEFT DUE TO THE
HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE AS MOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT DUE TO
OSMOSIS
• THE SOLUTION WITH THE IMPERMEABLE SOLUTE ALSO EXERTS A FORCE, CALLED THE OSMOTIC
PRESSURE. THE OSMOTIC PRESSURE OF A SOLUTION IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE
CONCENTRATION OF THE SOLUTE PARTICLES THAT CANNOT CROSS THE MEMBRANE—THE
HIGHER THE SOLUTE CONCENTRATION, THE HIGHER THE SOLUTION’S OSMOTIC.
• A SOLUTION’S TONICITY (TONIC TENSION) IS A MEASURE OF THE SOLUTION’S ABILITY TO
CHANGE THE VOLUME OF CELLS BY ALTERING THEIR WATER CONTENT.
 ISOTONIC SOLUTION. THE CONCENTRATIONS OF SOLUTES THAT CANNOT CROSS THE PLASMA
MEMBRANE ARE THE SAME ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MEMBRANE IN THIS SOLUTION.
 HYPOTONIC SOLUTION (HYPO - LESS THAN), A SOLUTION THAT HAS A LOWER CONCENTRATION OF
SOLUTES.
 A HYPERTONIC SOLUTION (HYPER- GREATER THAN) HAS A HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF SOLUTES.
 ACTIVE TRANSPORT

• SUCH SOLUTES MAY BE ABLE TO CROSS THE MEMBRANE BY A PROCESS CALLED ACTIVE
TRANSPORT. ACTIVE TRANSPORT IS CONSIDERED AN ACTIVE PROCESS BECAUSE ENERGY IS
REQUIRED FOR CARRIER PROTEINS TO MOVE SOLUTES ACROSS THE MEMBRANE AGAINST A
CONCENTRATION GRADIENT.
 PRIMARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT

• IN PRIMARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT, ENERGY DERIVED FROM HYDROLYSIS OF ATP CHANGES THE
SHAPE OF A CARRIER PROTEIN, WHICH “PUMPS” A SUBSTANCE ACROSS A PLASMA MEMBRANE
AGAINST ITS CONCENTRATION GRADIENT. INDEED, CARRIER PROTEINS THAT MEDIATE PRIMARY
ACTIVE TRANSPORT ARE OFTEN CALLED PUMPS.
 SECONDARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT

• IN SECONDARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT, THE ENERGY STORED IN A NA OR H CONCENTRATION

GRADIENT IS USED TO DRIVE OTHER SUBSTANCES ACROSS THE MEMBRANE AGAINST THEIR
OWN CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS. BECAUSE A NA OR H GRADIENT IS ESTABLISHED BY
PRIMARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT, SECONDARY ACTIVE TRANSPORT INDIRECTLY USES ENERGY
OBTAINED FROM THE HYDROLYSIS OF ATP.
• IF THESE TRANSPORTERS MOVE TWO SUBSTANCES IN THE SAME DIRECTION THEY ARE CALLED
SYMPORTERS (SYM- SAME); ANTIPORTERS, IN CONTRAST, MOVE TWO SUBSTANCES IN
OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS ACROSS THE MEMBRANE (ANTI- AGAINST).
 TRANSPORT IN VESICLES

• A VESICLE IS A SMALL, SPHERICAL SAC.

• ENDOCYTOSIS.
• HERE WE CONSIDER THREE TYPES OF ENDOCYTOSIS: RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ENDOCYTOSIS,
PHAGOCYTOSIS, AND BULK-PHASE ENDOCYTOSIS. RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ENDOCYTOSIS IS A HIGHLY
SELECTIVE TYPE OF ENDOCYTOSIS BY WHICH CELLS TAKE UP SPECIfiC LIGANDS.
• PHAGOCYTOSIS IS A FORM OF ENDOCYTOSIS IN WHICH THE CELL ENGULFS LARGE SOLID PARTICLES,
SUCH AS WORN-OUT CELLS, WHOLE BACTERIA, OR VIRUSES. ONLY A FEW BODY CELLS, TERMED
PHAGOCYTES, ARE ABLE TO CARRY OUT PHAGOCYTOSIS. TWO MAIN TYPES OF PHAGOCYTES ARE
MACROPHAGES, LOCATED IN MANY BODY TISSUES, AND NEUTROPHILS, A TYPE OF WHITE BLOOD CELL.
• MOST BODY CELLS CARRY OUT BULK-PHASE ENDOCYTOSIS, ALSO CALLED PINOCYTOSIS, A FORM OF
ENDOCYTOSIS IN WHICH TINY DROPLETS OF EXTRACELLULAR flUID ARE TAKEN UP. NO RECEPTOR
PROTEINS ARE INVOLVED; ALL SOLUTES DISSOLVED IN THE EXTRACELLULAR flUID ARE BROUGHT INTO THE
CELL.
 EXOCYTOSIS

• IN CONTRAST WITH ENDOCYTOSIS, WHICH BRINGS MATERIALS INTO A CELL, EXOCYTOSIS

RELEASES MATERIALS FROM A CELL. ALL CELLS CARRY OUT EXOCYTOSIS, BUT IT IS ESPECIALLY
IMPORTANT IN TWO TYPES OF CELLS: (1) SECRETORY CELLS THAT LIBERATE DIGESTIVE
ENZYMES, HORMONES, MUCUS, OR OTHER SECRETIONS; (2) NERVE CELLS THAT RELEASE
SUBSTANCES CALLED NEUROTRANSMITTERS.
 TRANSCYTOSIS

• IT OCCURS MOST OFTEN ACROSS THE ENDOTHELIAL CELLS THAT LINE BLOOD VESSELS AND IS
A MEANS FOR MATERIALS TO MOVE BETWEEN BLOOD PLASMA AND INTERSTITIAL flUID. FOR
INSTANCE, WHEN A WOMAN IS PREGNANT, SOME OF HER ANTIBODIES CROSS THE PLACENTA
INTO THE FETAL CIRCULATION VIA TRANSCYTOSIS.