Active transport

Active transport is the mediated process of moving particles across a biological membrane against a concentration gradient. If the process uses chemical energy, such as from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), it is termed primary active transport. Secondary active transport involves the use of an electrochemical gradient. Active transport uses energy, unlike passive transport, which does not use any energy.

The action of the sodium-potassium pump is an example of primary active transport.

Specialised trans-membrane proteins recognize the substance and allows it access (or, in the case of secondary transport, expend energy on forcing it) to cross the membrane when it otherwise would not, either because it is one to which the lipid bilayer of the membrane is impermeable or because it is moved against the concentration gradient. The last case, known as primary active transport, and the proteins involved in it as pumps, uses the chemical energy of, usually, ATP. The other cases, which usually derive their energy

through exploitation of an electrochemical gradient, are known as secondary active transport and involve pore-forming proteins that form channels through the cell membrane. Sometimes one substance is transported in one direction at the same time as another substance is being cotransported in the other direction. This is called antiport. Symport is the name if two substrates are being transported in the same direction across the membrane. Antiport and symport are associated with secondary active transport, meaning that one of the two substances are transported against their concentration gradient utilizing the energy derived from the transport of the second substance (mostly Na+, K+ or H+) down its concentration gradient. When particles are being moved from areas of low concentration to areas of high concentration (i.e., against the concentration gradient) then specific carrier proteins in the membrane are required to move these particles. The carrier proteins bind to specific molecules (e.g., glucose) and transport them into the cell where they are released. Because energy is required for this process, it is known as active transport. Examples of active transport include when sodium is transported out of the cell and potassium into the cell by the sodium-potassium pump. Active transport often takes place in the internal lining of the small intestine. Plants need to absorb mineral salts from the soil, but these salts are in very dilute solution. Active transport enables these cells to take up salts from this dilute solution against the concentration gradient.

Endocytosis
Endocytosis is the process by which cells absorb molecules (such as proteins) from outside the cell by engulfing it with their cell membrane. It is used by all cells of the body because most substances important to them are large polar molecules that cannot pass through the hydrophobic plasma membrane or cell membrane. The process opposite to endocytosis is exocytosis.

Types
There are three main types of endocytosis that are distinguished by the size of the vesicle formed and the cellular machinery involved.

Phagocytosis (literally, cell-eating) is the process by which cells ingest large objects, such as bacteria, viruses, or the remnants of cells which have undergone apoptosis. The membrane invaginates enclosing the wanted particles in a pocket,

then engulfs the object by pinching it off, and the object is sealed off into a large vacuole known as a phagosome.

Pinocytosis (literally, cell-drinking). This process is concerned with the uptake of solutes and single molecules such as proteins. Both phagocytosis and pinocytosis are non-receptor-mediated forms of endocytosis, and may result in the cell engulfing non-specific or unwanted particles. Receptor-mediated endocytosis is a more specific active event where the cytoplasm membrane folds inward to form coated pits. In this case, proteins or other trigger particles lock into receptors/ ligands in the cells plasma membrane. It is then, and only then that the particles are engulfed. These inward budding vesicles bud to form cytoplasmic vesicles. This process may also result in engulfing of unwanted particles, however not to the extent of pino/phagocytosis.

Function of endocytosis
Endocytosis is required for a vast number of functions that are essential for the well being of cell. It intimately regulates many processes, including nutrient uptake, cell adhesion and migration, receptor signaling, pathogen entry, neurotransmission, receptor downregulation, antigen presentation, cell polarity, mitosis, growth and differentiation, and drug delivery.

Exocytosis
Exocytosis is the durable process by which a cell directs the contents of secretory vesicles out of the cell membrane. These membrane-bound vesicles contain soluble proteins to be secreted to the extracellular environment, as well as membrane proteins and lipids that are sent to become components of the cell membrane.

Neuron A (transmitting) to neuron B (receiving) 1. Mitochondrion 2. synaptic vesicle with neurotransmitters 3. Autoreceptor 4. Synapse with neurotransmitter released (serotonin) 5. Postsynaptic receptors activated by neurotransmitter (induction of a postsynaptic potential) 6. Calcium channel 7. Exocytosis of a vesicle 8. Recaptured neurotransmitter

Illustration of an axon releasing dopamine.

Types
In multicellular organisms there are two types of exocytosis: 1) Ca2+ triggered nonconstitutive and 2) non Ca2+ triggered constitutive. Exocytosis in neuronal chemical synapses is Ca2+ triggered and serves interneuronal signalling. Constitutive exocytosis is performed by all cells and serves the release of components of the extracellular matrix, or just delivery of newly-synthesized membrane proteins that are incorporated in the plasma membrane after the fusion of the transport vesicle. Exocytosis is the opposite of endocytosis. Five steps are involved in exocytosis:

Vesicle trafficking
Certain vesicle-trafficking steps require the translocation of a vesicle over a significant distance. For example, vesicles that carry proteins from the Golgi apparatus to the cell surface are likely to use motor proteins and a cytoskeletal track to get close to their target before tethering would be appropriate. Both the actin- and the microtubule-based cytoskeleton's are implicated in these processes, along with several motor proteins. Once the vesicles reach their targets, they come into contact with tethering factors that can restrain them.

Vesicle tethering
It is useful to distinguish between the initial, loose tethering of vesicles with their targets from the more stable, packing interactions. Tethering involves links over distances of more than about half the diameter of a vesicle from a given membrane surface (>25 nm). Tethering interactions are likely to be involved in concentrating synaptic vesicles at the synapse.

Vesicle docking

The term docking refers to the holding of two membranes within a bilayer's distance of one another (<5-10 nm). Stable docking probably represents several distinct, molecular states: the molecular interactions underlying the close and tight association of a vesicle with its target may include the molecular rearrangements needed to trigger bilayer fusion. A common feature of many proteins that function in vesicle tethering and docking is their propensity to form highly extended, coiled-coil structures. Tethering and docking of a transport vesicle at the target membrane precedes the formation of a tight core SNARE complex.

Vesicle priming
In neuronal exocytosis, the term priming has been used to include all of the molecular rearrangements and ATP-dependent protein and lipid modifications that take place after initial docking of a synaptic vesicle but before exocytosis, such that the influx of calcium ions is all that is needed to trigger nearly instantaneous neurotransmitter release. In other cell types, whose secretion is constitutive (i.e. continuous, calcium ion independent, nontriggered) there is no priming.

Vesicle fusion
The vesicle fusion is driven by SNARE (Soluble NSF Attachment Protein Receptors) proteins process of merging the vesicle membrane with the target one resulting in release of large biomolecules in the extracellular space (or in case of neurons in the synaptic cleft). The merging of the donor and the acceptor membranes accomplishes three tasks:

The surface of the plasma membrane increases (by the surface of the fused vesicle). This is important for the regulation of cell size, e.g., during cell growth. The substances within the vesicle are released into the exterior. These might be waste products or toxins, or signaling molecules like hormones or neurotransmitters during synaptic transmission. Proteins embedded in the vesicle membrane are now part of the plasma membrane. The side of the protein that was facing the inside of the vesicle now faces the outside of the cell. This mechanism is important for the regulation of transmembrane receptors and transporters.