2.1 & 2.

2 Cell Membranes and Signaling

- Objectives:
- What is the structure of a biological membrane?
- What is meant by the fluid mosaic model?
- How do passive and active transport occur?
- How do proteins aid in membrane transport?
- What is the mechanism of large molecule transport?
- How do cells adhere to and recognize each other?
- How do cells sense their environment and convey the
information for an appropriate response?
- What is signal transduction?
Cell Wall vs. Cell Membrane

- The cell wall is the outer

most covering of the cell
- The cell wall covers the cell
membrane
- Cell wall provides strength
and rigidity to the cell
- The cell wall is present in
bacteria, fungi, algae and
plant cells
Cell walls are always
- Animal cells do not have exterior to the membrane
cell walls
Cell Wall

- Many eukaryotes have a - Animal cells have no cell wall

cell wall composed of a - Elaborate extracellular
carbohydrate matrices
- Cell wall of algae & plants - Collagen & glycoproteins
is made of cellulose - Many bacteria have cell wall
- Cell wall of many fungi is made of peptidoglycan, a
made of chitin carbohydrate unique to
- Cell wall of yeasts is made bacteria
of glucan and mannan - Archaea have several unique
types of cell walls some have a
carbohydrate component

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Plasmodesmata
Microscopic channels
Facilitates transport and
communication between algal
and plant cells
Bacterial cell wall
exterior to membrane
Protein channels allow
communication with the
environment
Cell / Plasma Membrane

- Plasma membrane separates

living cell from the nonliving
surroundings
- Thin barrier (8 nm thick)
controls traffic into and out
of the cell
- Plasma membranes and the
membranes of all the
organelles are selectively
permeable
- Small, non-polar and
hydrophobic molecules cross
by simple diffusion
 Phospholipids spontaneously form a
bilayer
The bilayer is stabilized by
- H bonds between the phosphate
heads and water
- The fatty acid tails are bonded by
van der Waals and hydrophobic
forces

- Phospholipids are
amphipathic

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- Most of the lipids and some proteins can drift laterally in
the plane of the membrane; the membrane is fluid
- Rarely flip-flop from one layer to the other

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 Plasma Membrane
Fluid Mosaic Model
Phospholipids
Glycolipids
Cholesterol
Proteins

Proteins float in a lake of phospholipids 8

- There are proteins that
extend through the
membrane; transmembrane
- The hydrophilic regions of
proteins are in contact with
the phospholipids and water
- The hydrophobic regions
are within the fatty acid
interior of the membrane

- Other proteins are

restricted to the fatty acid
interior; consist of
hydrophobic amino acids 9
Transmembrane Proteins
Penetrate the hydrophobic core
of the lipid bilayer and span the
membrane
Where they contact the interior,
they have hydrophobic regions
with nonpolar amino acids that
are often coiled into helices helices

Where they are in contact with the aqueous environment,

they have hydrophilic amino acids

Each type of amino acid is located exactly where it is

needed

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Peripheral Proteins

- Exterior of the membrane and not embedded in the

bilayer
- Loosely attached to the other membrane proteins
- Peripheral membrane proteins lack hydrophobic amino
acids and functional groups 11
Cholesterol is essential for eukaryotic membrane integrity
- Cholesterol is sterol; category of lipid
- 4 hydrocarbon rings
- Cholesterol can be up to 25% of lipids in eukaryotic
membrane
- Necessary for building and maintaining cell membranes
- Cholesterol is wedged between phospholipids in plasma
membrane of animals cells

Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Cholesterol is an important part of the eukaryotic membrane
- Restrains the movement of phospholipids at warmer
temperatures
- Maintains fluidity by preventing tight packing at cooler
temperatures

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How do substances cross a membrane?
Passive transport

Does not require the hydrolysis of ATP

- Simple diffusion (unaided)

- Facilitated diffusion: protein channel or carrier

proteins

Active transport

Requires energy

- Primary active transport requires ATP

- Secondary active transport uses energy from an ion

concentration gradient or an electrical gradient
Simple Diffusion
- Molecules spreading out from regions of high
concentration towards regions of low concentration
Equilibrium
- A state of balanced opposing forces and no net change
Small
Uncharged
Hydrophobic
Non-polar

Cells depend upon diffusion

Passive: no energy input
Smaller cells have a larger
surface area to volume ratio
Membranes
Some are dynamic
molecules can cross by simple diffusion
Small, hydrophobic, non-polar molecules cross by diffusion
CO2 & O2

Ions and polar molecules pass through with difficulty

and need special protein channels
H2O crosses via aquaporins 17
 Osmosis H2O crosses via aquaporins
Net movement of water
across a selectively
permeable membrane

Fundamental process
Passive
Important to cells
The movement of water
is influenced by
[solute]
The solute is to large to pass through, but H2O can move
in either direction
H2O is represented by the black dots
Solute is represented by the larger red spots 18
Movement of H2O is influenced by [solutes]

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Isotonic Hypertonic Hypotonic

Isotonic: Solutions with equal solute concentrations

Hypertonic: A solution with higher concentration of
solutes is hypertonic to one with a lower concentration
Hypotonic: A solution with lower concentration of
solutes is hypotonic to one with a higher concentration
Isotonic Hypertonic Hypotonic

Wednesday
 Diffusion of H2O is influenced [solutes]
Animal Cell
H2O moves from hypo to hyper

Hypertonic Isotonic Hypotonic

Lower [solute] as
Higher [solute] as
compared with
compared with a
cell the cell

Net H2O movement out = Net H2O movement

movement movement in into the cell
out of the cell
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 Plant Cell Many animations on-line

Hypertonic
Hypertonic Isotonic
Isotonic Hypotonic
Hypotonic

plasmolyzed flaccid turgid

Diffusion of H2O is
influenced [solutes]
Examples of Adaptations for Osmoregulation
- Paramecium, a protist that lives freshwater (hypotonic)
uses a contractile vacuole to force water out
- Plant, fungi, bacteria and archaea have a rigid cell wall
pressure limits amount of water taken up keeps cell
from bursting
- Multicellular animals have complex physiology to
maintain isotonic interstitial fluid
- Red blood cells must be in an isotonic environment
of they will burst or shrivel
Facilitated Diffusion
Transport proteins help specific ions and polar molecules
diffuse through the membrane
- Channel proteins create a corridor for a specific molecule
- Aquaporin channel only fits H2O
- Carrier proteins change shape to move molecules across

Image from Wikipedia

Channels

Ion channels are a type of channel protein for ions

Open when a
stimulus causes
the channel to
change shape

Stimulus may
be a ligand or a
chemical signal
Aquaporin is a non-gated channel protein for H2O

- Transmembrane channel protein

- Permits H2O to pass through the
membrane
- Hydrophobic exterior
- Hydrophilic tunnel through center

http://www.d.umn.edu/~jfitzake/Lectures/
DMED/IonChannelPhysiology/
IonChannelProperties/Aquaporins.html

Aquaporin
facilitates diffusion
of H2O
Image from Wikipedia
Carrier Protein Facilitates Diffusion

Carrier proteins facilitate diffusion by binding substances

Glucose transporters are a common example
Glucose molecules bind to the carrier protein and cause
the protein to change shape
Glucose is released on the other side of the membrane
Carrier Protein Facilitates Diffusion

Transport by carrier

Rate of diffusion
proteins differs from

into the cell

simple diffusion, though
both are driven by
concentration gradient

Glucose concentration
outside the cell

Facilitated diffusion system can become saturated: when

all of the carrier molecules are bound, rate of diffusion
reaches its maximum
Active Transport Requires Energy Input
Requires the input of energy to move
substances against their concentration
gradients
Maintain high internal concentration of
solutes that would cannot diffuse
across the membrane
Special carrier protein
Primary active transport
Uses energy from ATP hydrolysis for
transport
Secondary active transport
Uses the energy from ion concentration
gradient or electrical gradient
Na+ / K+ Pump

- Exchanges Na+ and K+ across the membrane

- Balance membrane charges
- Na+ is pumped out
- K+ is pumped in
- Primary active transport
- Hydrolysis of ATP provides the energy required for
transport
- Secondary active transport
- Uses the energy from ion concentration gradient to
acquire glucose
- Know the steps for the next exam
- Fig 5.7 on page 92 30
 [Na+] ions drive
K+ is pumped in transport of glucose
against a gradient

Secondary
Active Transport
Primary Active
Transport

Na+ is pumped out

Balance membrane charges
changed order of slides
Acquire glucose 31
Hydrolysis of ATP used to move ions

Balance membrane charges

Secondary Transport: acquiring glucose via [Na+]
Does not use ATP directly
Utilizes an ion concentration or electric gradient to bring
in another molecule against its gradient

Na+ ions drive

transport of
glucose
against a
concentration
gradient
Exocytosis Moves Materials Out of the Cell
Secretory vesicle buds from the Golgi
Moved by motor proteins walking along a microtubule to
the plasma membrane
Used for large amounts
Membranes bilayers fuse of material
Contents spilled to the outside Large, charged, polar
compounds cannot
diffuse out of the cell
Endocytosis

Brings a large quantity Phagocytosis = cellular eating

of molecules into cells
Pinocytosis = cellular drinking
Involves vesicles
budding off the plasma Receptor Mediated
membrane into the Endocytosis for uptake of
cytoplasm specific materials
 Pinocytosis
A small patch of
Extracellular fluids; nonspecific
plasma membrane
sinks inward and
seals back on itself,
forming a vesicle
inside the cytoplasm

Receptor-mediated
endocytosis
LDL, Fe+++

Phagocytosis
Dust, debris, dying & dead
cells, bacteria, viruses

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