BIO 110 TOPIC 4 – CELL TRANSPORT

CELL TRANSPORT – pertains to the movement of substances within and out of the cell.

CONCENTRATION – amount of substance in a particular area

IT HAS 2 TYPES:

 Passive transport – this is the process in which the cells do not need to use energy. (Diffusion,
facilitated diffusion, osmosis) > high to low concentration
 Active Transport – this is the process in which the cell do need to use energy. (protein pumps,
endocytosis, exocytosis) > low to high concentration

PASSIVE TRANSPORT: (DOES NOT NEED ENERGY)

1. DIFFUSION:
- is the net movement of particles from an area where there
are many particles of the substance to an area where there
are fewer particles of the substance
- substances diffuse from areas of high concentration to low
concentration.
- usually yung mga naguundergo diffusion ay yung tinatawag
na polar molecules
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION
- Concentration (Denser > slower and decreased diffusion rate,
Greater Mass > lower diffusion rate)
- Temperature (higher temperature (hot) will increase the
diffusion rate because there’s more movement in molecules
in a hotter temperature)
- Pressure
- Distance (the greater the distance, the slower the diffusion
rate)
- Thinner membrane and large surface area > faster diffusion
rate

 EXAMPLES OF DIFFUSION IN BIOLOGY

- Gas exchange in alveoli (happens in the lungs when oxygen leaves the alveoli to the blood, CO2
from blood to air)
- Gas exchange for photosynthesis (CO2 from air to leaf, oxygen from leaf to air)
- Gas exchange for respiration (oxygen from blood to tissue cells, CO2 in opposite direction)
- Transfer of transmitter substance (acetylcholine from presynaptic to
- post synaptic membrane at a synapse)
2. FACILITATED DIFFUSION
- Uses transport proteins to move other ions and small
molecules across the plasma membrane
- Substances move into the cell through a water-filled protein
called a channel protein that opens and closes to allow the
substance to diffuse through the plasma membrane.
 Another type of transport protein called carrier protein
can also help substance diffuse across the plasma
membrane.
 Carrier proteins change shape as the diffusion process
continues to help move the particle through the
membrane.
- Usually ang naguundergo ng facilitated diffusion are those
molecules that are too big or pwede din yung mga non polar
molecules,glucose and charged ions
- Facilitated diffusion still goes from high to low concentration

*So both facilitated diffusion and diffusion move from high to low concentration, but facilitated
diffusion requires transport protein while diffusion does not require it.*

*All molecules are still moving, even when equilibrium is reached*

OSMOSIS

- special example of diffusion

- type of transport wherein there is movement of water across a membrane (semi permeable
membrane)
 - affects the status of the cell
- water can travel in small quantities or big quantities(using aquaporin)
- moves from high to low concentration
- low water concentration = greater/higher solute and vice versa (solutes are substances that can
be dissolved in water)
- water tends to move to areas with higher solute concentration, so nagkakaroon ng less water
concentration
- if pressure is present, water will go to a higher solute concentration
- Hypertonic means having higher solute concentration outside (where water is more attractive)
- Hypotonic means having lower solute concentration outside
- Isotonic means having equal concentration

OSMOREGULATION

- keeps the concentration of cell cytoplasm or blood at a suitable concentration.

 Amoeba, living in freshwater uses a contractile vacuole to expel the excess water from its
cytoplasm (thus need more respiration/O2/ATP than isotonic(marine Amoebae))
 The Kidneys maintain the blood and the whole body at the correct concentration.

CELLS IN DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS:

  ISOTONIC SOLUTION
- When a cell is in a solution that has the same concentration of water and solutes--ions, sugar,
proteins, and other substances—as its cytoplasm, the cell is said to be in isotonic solution.
- The cell is the equilibrium with the solution, and there is no net movement of water.
- The cells retain their normal shape.
- Most cells in organisms are in isotonic solutions, such as blood.

 HYPOTONIC SOLUTION
- If a cell is in a solution that has a lower concentration of solute, the cell is said to be in
hypotonic solution.
- If the solution is extremely hypotonic, the plasma membrane might be unable to withstand this
pressure and the cell might swell/burst.
 HYPERTONIC SOLUTION
- When a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, the concentration of the solute outside of the cell
is higher than inside.
- Animal Cells in a hypertonic solution shrivel because of decreased pressure in cells.
- Plant Cells in a hypertonic solution lose water, mainly from the central vacuole. The plasma
membrane shrinks away from the cell wall. Loss of water in a plant cell causes wilting.

Turgor Pressure/Turgor – pressure of swollen cell contents against the cell wall when the external
solution is more dilute that the cell sap of the vacuole.

- Role of Turgor in Plants:

 Mechanical support for soft, non-woody tissue (ex: leaves)
 Change in shape of guard cells forming the stomatal opening between them.
 Enlargement of young immature plant cells to mature size.

SOME MAJOR EXAMPLES OF DIFFUSION IN BIOLOGY

 Re-absorption of water, amino acids, and salts by the proximal and distal convoluted tubules of
the nephron.
 Absorption of water by plant roots. (plant roots are hypertonic, and the soil is hypotonic, which
is why the plant roots absorb water)
 Sodium/potassium pump in cell membranes (nerve cells)
 Re-absorption of tissue fluid into the venule ends of the blood capillaries
 Absorption of water by the alimentary canal – stomach, small intestine, and the colon.

ACTIVE TRANSPORT(NEEDS ENERGY)

*energy is in the form of ATP (Adenosine

triphosphate) which has 3 phosphates. When the
bond for the last phosphate breaks, it releases
energy*
 1. ENDOCYTOCIS
- process by which a cell surrounds a substance in the outside environment, enclosing the
substance in a portion of the plasma membrane
- pinocytosis, phagocytosis, receptor-mediated endocytosis
- endo =“in” which means diffusing of substances within the cells that form vesicles that can be
taken in the cell

PINOCYTOSIS

- “cell drinking” – fluids yung tinatake in ng cell

- extracellular fluid is taken by the cell with the help of vesicles from
plasma membrane

PHAGOCYTOSIS

- organic materials are engulfed (swallowed) by the organism.

- happens in amoeba (pseudopods)
- pseudopods stretch out around whatever they engulf and pulls it
into a vacuole.

RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ENDOCYTOSIS

- also called Clathrin-mediated endocytosis

- process through which bulk amounts of specific
molecules can be imported into a cell after binding
into cell surface receptors.
- process by which cells absorb metabolites,
hormones, proteins – and in some cases: viruses –
by the inward budding of the plasma membrane
which is called the invagination.
 - only the receptor-specific substances can enter the cell through this process (choosy siya)
2. EXOCYTOSIS
- secretion of materials at the plasma membrane.
- exo = “exit”
- gets rid of cell waste and getting valuable material out of the cell.
- example is when plants need to make a cell wall.

APPLICATION: THE MECHANISM OF HEMODIALYSIS (Treats kidney failure)

- In hemodialysis, the wastes and excess water

are removed by using an external filter called
a dialyzer(artificial kidney), which contains a
semipermeable membrane. The separation
of wastes is done by creating a counter-
current flow gradient, where blood flow is in
one direction and the fluid of the dialyzer is
in the opposite direction. Peritoneal dialysis
uses the peritoneum as a natural
semipermeable membrane and removes
waste and water into the dialysate (the
material or fluid that passes through the
membrane of the dialysis).

- The basic principle involved in dialysis is the movement or diffusion of solute particles across a
semipermeable membrane (diffusion). Metabolic waste products, such as urea and creatinine,
diffuse down the concentration gradient from the circulation into the dialysate (sodium
bicarbonate (NaHCO3), sodium chloride (NaCl), acid concentrate, and deionized water). During
their diffusion into the dialysate, the size of particles, in turn, determines the rate of diffusion
across the membrane. The larger the size of the solute particle, the slower is the rate of
diffusion across the membrane.

GLOBAL ISSUE: What is the global prevalence of hypertension (high blood pressure)?
- Globally, an estimated 26% of the world’s population (972 million people) has hypertension,
and the prevalence is expected to increase to 29% by 2025, driven largely by increases in
economically developing nations. The high prevalence of hypertension exacts a tremendous
public health burden. As a primary contributor to heart disease and stroke, the first and third
leading causes of death worldwide, respectively, high blood pressure was the top modifiable
risk factor for disability adjusted life-years lost worldwide in 2013.