Cellular Physiology: Selective Permeability

 The plasma membrane

allows some materials
to pass while excluding
others
 Healthy cells

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Membrane Transport
 Movement of substances
into and out of the cell
 Two basic methods
 Passive transport
 No energy is required
 Active transport
 The cell must provide
metabolic energy

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 Solutions and Transport
 Solution – homogeneous
mixture of two or more
components
 Solvent – dissolving medium
 Solutes – dissolved substances
 Intracellular fluid –
nucleoplasm and cytosol
 Interstitial fluid – fluid on the
exterior of the cell

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Passive Transport Processes
 Diffusion
 Movement of solutes from higher to lower
concentration, or down a
concentration
gradient.

Figure 3.9
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Types of Diffusion

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 Osmosis
 Diffusion of solvent through a selectively permeable
membrane from an area of higher water concentration to
an area of lower water concentration.
 Water moves through a selectively permeable membrane
from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of
higher solute concentration.
 Water go in and out of the membrane by osmotic
pressure

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IVF Therapy and Cellular Tonics
TONICITY
 Ability of the solution to change the size and
shape of the cell by altering its fluid content.

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 Filtration
 Water and solutes are forced through a
membrane by fluid, or hydrostatic pressure
 A pressure gradient must exist
 Solute-containing fluid is pushed from a
high pressure area to a lower pressure area

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Active Transport Processes

 Transport substances that are unable to pass by

diffusion
 They may be too large
 They may not be able to dissolve in the fat core
of the membrane
 They may have to move against a concentration
gradient

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 Forms of Active Transport
 Solute pumping
 Amino acids, some
sugars and ions are
transported by
solute pumps
 ATP energizes
protein carriers, and
in most cases,
moves substances
against
concentration
gradients

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Bulk transport
 Endocytosis
 Extracellular substances
are engulfed by being
enclosed in a
membranous vescicle
Types of endocytosis
 Phagocytosis – bacteria
 Pinocytosis – cell
drinking

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 Exocytosis
 Material is carried in
a membranous vesicle
and emptied to the
outside

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 The Cell Cycle

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 Cell Life Cycle
 Cells have two major
periods
 Interphase
 Cell grows
 Cell carries on metabolic
processes
 Cell division
 Cell replicates itself to
produce more cells for
growth and repair
processes

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DNA Replication

 Occurs toward the

end of interphase
(precedes mitosis)
 DNA uncoils and
each side serves
as a template

Figure 3.14
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Events of Cell Division
 Mitosis
 Division of the nucleus
 Results in the formation
of two daughter nuclei
 Cytokinesis
 Division of the
cytoplasm
 Results in the formation
of two daughter cells

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Stages of Mitosis
 Prophase
 First part of cell division
 Centromeres migrate to the poles

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 Metaphase
 Spindle from centromeres are attached to
chromosomes that are aligned in the center of the
cell

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Protein Synthesis

 Gene – is a sequence of
nucleotides providing a
chemical set of instructions
for making a protein.
 RNA is essential for protein
synthesis

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Role of RNA
 Transfer RNA (tRNA)
 Transfers appropriate amino acids to the ribosome for
building the protein
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
 Helps form the ribosomes where proteins are built
 Messenger (mRNA)
 Carries the instructions for building a protein from the
nucleus to the ribosome

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 Protein Synthesis
(gene expression)

 Transcription
 Transfer of
information from
DNA’s base sequence
to the complimentary
base sequence of
mRNA
 Translation
 Base sequence of
nucleic acid is
translated to an amino
acid sequence

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