MEMBRANE TRANSPORT PROCESSES

PASSIVE PROCESSES

 Do not require energy expenditure

RELATED PROCESSES TO PASSIVE TRANSPORT
DIFFUSION

 Movement of a substance from high concentration to low concentration

 Tendency of a substance to spread out evenly over a given space
 For instance, when a sugar cube is dissolved in water. Overtime, the cube will dissolve and eventually
spread out evenly in the water, until it reaches equilibrium
 It occurs down a concentration gradient, which is a difference in concentration of a substance between two
areas
 CELLULAR DIFFUSION is when diffusion of a solute, which is a dissolved substance, occurs across the
plasma membrane from area of high concentration to low concentration
o SIMPLE DIFFUSION occurs with solutes that are small and non-polar. By being non-polar, they
can move between phospholipid molecules that form the plasma membrane because the interior
region of the membrane is non-polar. Some gases are oxygen and carbon dioxide and small fatty
acids. So if there is a higher concentration of Oxygen O2 molecules outside of the cell, they can
move down the concentration gradient, across the membrane without assistance, and into the cell
as long as the concentration gradient exists. And if there is a higher concentration of carbon
dioxide molecules inside a cell, they can move across the membrane without assistance, out of the
cell into the interstitial fluid.
o FACILITATED DIFFUSION applies to solutes that are small and either charged or polar. Because
these solutes are polar, the non-polar phospholipid bilayer blocks them from passing through the
membrane and into or out of the cell by simple diffusion. However, they can pass into and out of
the cell with the assistance of plasma membrane protein through a process called facilitated
diffusion
 CHANNEL MEDIATED is when an ion, which is charged particle where its total number of
electrons does not equal its total number of protons, giving it a positive or negative
charge, moves across the membrane through a water filled protein channel. Each protein
channel is typically specific for one type of ion, and there are 2 types of channels, a LEAK
CHANNEL, which is a continuously open, and a GATED CHANNEL which only open due
to stimulus, and only stays open for a fraction of a second
 CARRIER MEDIATED involves the movement of polar molecules such as simple sugars
or simple carbohydrates and amino acids across the membrane. This is accomplished by
a carrier protein, which actually change shape in the process. For instance, glucose binds
to a carrier protein, which changes shape and moves the glucose molecule to the other
side of the membrane
o The difference between the two is the type of protein used to move the substance across the
membrane
OSMOSIS

 It is a passive transport of water through selectively permeable membrane. This occurs when there is a
difference in concentration of water on either side of the membrane. This can happen in one or two ways,
water can slip between the phospholipid molecules that make up the plasma membrane, or through integral
protein water channels that are called AQUAPORINS. The plasma membrane is not permeable to most
solutes, such as charged, polar, and large substances. So for example, one side of the membrane, the
cytosol or interstitial fluid can have more solutes than the other side. Let’s say the interstitial fluid has 3
percent solutes and 97 percent water. And the cytosol side has 1 percent solutes and 99 percent water. In
this example, water will move down its concentration gradient from the 99 percent cytosol side to the 97
percent interstitial side to achieve equilibrium