Transport across

Cell Membranes
(Textbook Pages 38 – 45)
 Learning Outcomes
Cell membrane structure
- Describe the arrangement of proteins, glycoproteins, glycolipids, phospholipids and
cholesterol in the fluid mosaic model of membrane.
- Analyse the structure, roles and importance of the constituent parts of the cell
membrane to its role on the surface of cells and within cells.

Osmosis
- Define osmosis in terms of water potential. (diffusion of water molecules from a higher to
a lower water potential through a selectively permeable membrane)
- Discuss the effect of osmosis on plant and animal cells (including key terms turgid, flaccid,
insipient plasmolysis, plasmolysis and ruptured cells)

Diffusion, facilitated diffusion and active transport

- Define the processes of diffusion and facilitated diffusion.
- Describe and explain the structure of proteins in their role as channel or carrier proteins
- Compare and contrast the processes of facilitated diffusion and diffusion.
- Identify which substances rely on facilitated diffusion and why they cannot enter/leave
cells by diffusion.
- Describe and explain the principles involved in active transport, endocytosis and
exocytosis.
- Interpret data to identify when a substance is moving by facilitated diffusion, passive
diffusion or active transport.
 Transport Across the Cell Membrane
Phospholipids:
Special type of lipid, where one of the three fatty acid molecules (as in a triglyceride)
is replaced by a phosphate group

The phosphate group is polar and can dissolve in water

The head of the molecule is hydrophilic (water-loving), but the hydrocarbon tails are
hydrophobic (water-hating).
Fluid Mosaic Model
The cell membrane is a double layer (bilayer), made almost entirely of two groups; lipids
and proteins
‘Fluid’ because molecules move around within the layer. ‘Mosaic’ describes the pattern
of the scattered proteins
Phospholipid tails point inwards, facing each other and forming a non-polar, hydrophobic
interior. The phospholipid heads face the aqueous medium surrounding the membrane
Some of the phospholipid tails are saturated and some are unsaturated. The more
unsaturated they are, the more fluid the membrane. This is because the unsaturated fatty
acid tails are bent and fit together more loosely
Most protein molecules float about (like icebergs) in the layers, but some are anchored to
structures inside the cell and so do not move
Some proteins are embedded in only one of the membrane layers (extrinsic proteins),
while some extend across both (intrinsic proteins) They stay in the membrane as they
have hydrophobic portions (R groups)
Total thickness is about 7 nm on average
Many proteins and lipids have short, branching carbohydrate chains, forming
glycoproteins and glycolipids
 Movement in and out of cells
The cell membrane makes an effective barrier, particularly against the movement of
water-soluble molecules and ions, therefore preventing the aqueous contents of the
cell from escaping.
However, some exchange between the cell and its environment is essential. Suggest
why.
Exchange happens by four basic mechanisms: diffusion, osmosis, active and bulk
transport.
1. Diffusion and facilitated diffusion
Diffusion is the net movement of molecules (or ions) from a region of their higher
concentration to a region of their lower concentration
Molecules move down a concentration gradient
Happens due to the kinetic energy / random movement of molecules
The rate at which a substance can diffuse across a cell membrane depends on:
The difference in concentration of the substance on each side of the membrane,
i.e. the steepness of the concentration gradient
 The temperature. Diffusion happens faster at higher temperatures
The surface area; the thinner the surface, the faster the diffusion
The nature of the molecules. Large molecules need more energy to move them so
tend to diffuse more slowly. Non-polar molecules diffuse faster as they are
soluble in the phospholipid tails
The respiratory gases, oxygen and carbon dioxide, cross membranes by diffusion.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide are uncharged and non-polar, so cross quickly as they are
small enough to pass between phospholipid molecules. Large polar molecules, such as
glucose and amino acids, cannot diffuse through the phospholipid bilayer.
Ions can only cross the cell membrane by passing through hydrophilic channels
created by protein molecules. This is called facilitated diffusion
The rate of diffusion depends on how many appropriate channels there are in the
membrane, and whether or not they are open
Like ordinary diffusion, movement of molecules is entirely passive and no energy is
required
1. Osmosis
A special type of diffusion involving water molecules only
The diffusion of water molecules down their concentration gradient across a partially
permeable membrane
Osmosis is a type of simple diffusion in which water molecules
diffuse through a selectively permeable membrane from areas of
high water concentration to areas of lower water concentration.
(Note that the more particles there are dissolved in a solution, the
less water there is in it, so osmosis is sometimes described as
the diffusion of water from areas of low solute concentration to
areas of high solute concentration).

Osmotic pressure is the pressure that causes the diffusion of

water through semi-permeable membranes. It increases due to
an increase in the concentration of solutes in the solution.
There are three types of osmosis solutions: the isotonic
solution, hypotonic solution, and hypertonic solution.
An isotonic solution is when the solute concentration is balanced
with the concentration inside the cell. In an isotonic solution,
the water movement still moves between the solution, but the
rates are the same in both directions, thus the water movement
is balanced between the inside of the cell and the outside of the
cell.
A hypotonic solution is when the solute concentration is lower than
the concentration inside the cell. In a hypotonic solution, the
water moves into the cell and can cause the cell to swell; cells
that don’t have a cell wall, such as animal cells, could explode
in this type of solution.
A hypertonic solution is when the solute concentration is higher
than the concentration inside the cell. In a hypertonic solution,
the water moves out of the cell and causes the cell to shrivel.
The tendency of water molecules to move from one place to another is known as water
potential, represented by the Greek letter ψ (psi).
Water always moves from a region of higher water potential to a region of lower water
potential
Pure water has a water potential of zero (the highest possible water potential)
The effect of solutes is to lower the water potential, so the water potential of solutions is
less than zero, that is negative
The more solute, the more concentrated a solution is and the more negative (lower) the
water potential
The amount that the solute molecules lower the water potential of a solution is called the
solute potential.
Solute potential is always negative, and represented as ψ S.
Increasing the pressure can increase the water potential. This is known as the pressure
potential ψp. The greater the pressure applied, the greater the tendency for the water
molecules to move from one place to another. The pressure potential makes the water
potential less negative and is therefore positive.
Effects of osmosis in plant cells
Plant cells are enclosed by a rigid cell wall. When the plant cell
is placed in a hypotonic solution, it takes up water by osmosis
and starts to swell, but the cell wall prevents it from bursting.
The plant cell is said to have become ‘turgid’, i.e. swollen and
hard. The pressure inside the cell rises until this internal
pressure is equal to the pressure outside. This liquid (or
hydrostatic pressure called ‘turgor pressure’) prevents the
further net intake of water.
Turgidity is very important to plants as it helps with the
maintenance of rigidity and stability of plant tissue and, as
each cell exerts a turgor pressure on its neighbour, it creates
plant tissue tension which allows the green parts of the plant
to ‘stand up’ into the sunlight.
When a plant cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, the water
from inside the cell‘s cytoplasm diffuses out and the plant cell
is said to have become ‘flaccid’. If the plant cell is then observed
under a microscopic, it will be noticed that the cytoplasm has
shrunk and pulled away from the cell wall. This phenomenon is
called plasmolysis. The process is reversed as soon as the cells
are transferred into a hypotonic solution (deplasmolysis).
Effects of Osmosis on Animal Cells
Effects of osmosis in animal cells
Animal cells do not have cell walls so, in hypotonic solutions,
animal cells swell up and explode. They cannot become turgid
because there is no cell wall to prevent the cell from bursting.
When the cell is in danger of bursting, organelles called
contractile vacuoles will pump water out of the cell to prevent
this from happening.
In hypertonic solutions, water diffuses out of the cell due to
osmosis and the cell shrinks. Thus, the animal cell always has
to be surrounded by an isotonic solution. In the human body, the
kidneys provide the necessary regulatory mechanism for the
blood plasma. The concentration of water and salt removed
from the blood by the kidneys is controlled by a part of the brain
called the hypothalamus. The process of regulating the
concentration of water and mineral salts in the blood is called
osmoregulation.
Animals that live on dry land must conserve water, as do
animals that live in salty sea water. Animals that live in
freshwater have the opposite problem; they must get rid of
excess water as fast as it enters into their bodies by osmosis.
1. Active Transport
If the concentration of particular ions, such as potassium and chloride, inside cells is
often 10-20 times more concentrated inside than outside.
Diffusion cannot be responsible as ions accumulate against a concentration gradient.
This is called active transport, and requires energy (supplied by the molecule ATP)
It’s achieved by special intrinsic membrane proteins called transport proteins, each
specific for a particular molecule or ion

Molecules bind with a

receptor site on one side of
the membrane, which
causes the protein to either
move within the membrane
or change shape (a
conformational change) so
that the molecule is carried
across the membrane and
released on the other side
Active transport can be defined as the energy-consuming transport of molecules or
ions across a membrane against a concentration gradient (from a lower to higher
concentration) made possible by transferring energy from respiration. It can occur
into or out of the cell
A good example of active transport is the sodium potassium pump, which exists in
most cell membranes. It actively removes sodium ions from cells, while pumping
potassium ions into the cell.
1. Bulk transport (energy-consuming)
Mechanisms for the transport of large quantities of material into cells (endocytosis) or
out of cells (exocytosis).
Endocytosis involves the engulfing of material by the plasma membrane to form a
small sac, or endocytic vacuole. It takes two forms:
Phagocytosis (‘cell eating’) – bulk uptake of solid material. Vacuoles are called
phagocytic vacuoles. Specialist cells are called phagocytes. E.g. the engulfing
of bacteria by white blood cells
Pinocytosis (‘cell drinking’) – bulk uptake of liquid. Vacuoles are called vesicles

Exocytosis is the reverse, and

the way materials are removed
from the cell. E.g. the secretion
of digestive enzymes from cells
of the pancreas. Secretory
vesicles carry the enzymes to the
cell surface and release their
contents
 Questions
1. (a) List three substances that need to be transported into all kinds of animal cells, in order for

them to survive.
(b) List two substances that need to be transported out of animal cells, in order for them to
survive.
2. Describe in general terms the energy requirements of passive and active transport.
3. Explain what is meant by a partially permeable membrane.
4. Describe what would happen to an animal cell (e.g. a red blood cell) if it was placed into:
(a) Pure water

(b) A hypertonic (concentrated) solution

(c) A hypotonic (dilute) solution

5. What is the difference between phagocytosis and pinocytosis?

6. Identify the processes by which the following substances enter a living macrophage:
(d) Oxygen

(e) Cellular debris

(f) Water

(g) Glucose