03/10/2022

Transport Mechanisms
Week 4 – 1st Quarter

Cell Membrane
• also called the plasma membrane
• found in all cells and separates the interior of the cell from the outside environment. The cell
membrane consists of a lipid bilayer that is semi-permeable. The cell membrane regulates the
transport of materials entering and exiting the cell.

Key Facts about the Cell Membrane

• The cell membrane is a semipermeable membrane. This means that selectively allows things to
pass through it (either enter through it or move out through it).
• The cell membrane has a unique structure which has been explained by what is known as Fluid
Mosaic Model. This model was proposed back in 1972. Over time, the model became more
advanced and today, it is the most widely accepted model of plasma/cell membrane.
• The plasma membrane not only defines the borders of the cell, but also allows the cell to interact
with its environment in a controlled way. Cells must be able to exclude, take in, and excrete various
substances, all in specific amounts.
• The plasma membranes of animal cells contain glycolipids and cholesterol.
o The glycolipids are found exclusively in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane, with
their carbohydrate portions exposed on the cell surface. They are relatively minor
membrane components, constituting only about 2% of the lipids of most plasma
membranes.
o Cholesterol, on the other hand, is a major membrane constituent of animal cells, being
present in about the same molar amounts as the phospholipids.
• Recall that plasma membranes have hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions.
o This characteristic helps the movement of certain materials through the membrane and
hinders the movement of others. Lipid-soluble material can easily slip through the
hydrophobic lipid core of the membrane.
o Substances such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K readily pass through the plasma
membranes in the digestive tract and other tissues. Fat-soluble drugs also gain easy entry
into cells and are readily transported into the body’s tissues and organs. Molecules of
oxygen and carbon dioxide have no charge and pass through by simple diffusion.

Passive Transport
• The passive forms of transport, diffusion and osmosis, move materials of small molecular weight
across membranes.
• Substances diffuse from areas of high concentration to areas of lower concentration; this process
continues until the substance is evenly distributed in a system. In solutions containing more than
one substance, each type of molecule diffuses according to its own concentration gradient,
independent of the diffusion of other substances.
Osmosis
• a biophysical process occurring commonly in biological systems where solvent molecules move
across a semi-permeable membrane towards a region of high solute concentration.

Osmotic solutions (Tonicity)

Hypotonic solution
• If an extracellular solution has less concentration of solute than that inside the cell, the solution is
termed a hypotonic solution.

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• When a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, the movement of water occurs into the cell resulting
in endosmosis.
• The cell is such a condition will swell up and might even burst.

Hypertonic solution
• If an extracellular solution has more concentration of solute than that inside the cell, the solution is
termed a hypertonic solution.
• When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, the movement of water occurs out of the cell resulting
in exosmosis.
• The cell shrinks down, losing the ability to divide, and even function.

Diffusion

• the movement of atoms, ions, or molecules from an area of higher concentration to one of lower
concentration. The transport of matter continues until equilibrium is reached and there is a uniform
concentration through the material.
Facilitated Diffusion
• Active transport is the process of transferring substances into, out of, and between cells, using
energy. In some cases, the movement of substances can be accomplished by passive
transport, which uses no energy. However, the cell often needs to transport materials against
their concentration gradient. In these cases, active transport is required.

Endocytosis
• cell uses proteins in its membrane to fold the membrane into the shape of a pocket. This pocket
forms around the contents to be taken into the cell. The pocket grows until it is pinched off, re-
forming the cell membrane around it and trapping the pocket and its contents inside the cell. These
membrane pockets, which carry materials inside of or between cells, are called “vesicles.”

Exocytosis
• the opposite of endocytosis. In exocytosis, the cell creates a vesicle to enclose something inside
the cell, for the purpose of moving it outside of the cell, across the membrane. This most commonly
occurs when a cell wants to “export” an important product, such as cells that synthesize and export
enzymes and hormones that are needed throughout the body.