MOVEMENT OF MOLECULES

ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE

Prepared by
DR.JAVERIA.M.ARIF
Clinical pharmacist/Lecturer
PHARM-D,M-phil (pharmacy practice)
 TRANSPORT THROUGH CELL
MEMBRANE
• Various processes involved in the transport of substances across
the cell membrane may be grouped as under:

• Passive transport
• Active transport
• Vesicular transport.
 PASSIVE TRANSPORT
• Passive transport refers to the mechanism of transport of substances
along the gradient without expenditure of any energy.
• It depends upon the physical factors like concentration gradient,
electrical gradient and pressure gradient.
• The transport of substances occurs along the gradient, this process is
also called down-hill movement.
• The passive transport mechanisms operating at the cell membrane
level are diffusion and osmosis.
 DIFFUSION

• Diffusion refers to passive transport of molecules from areas of

higher concentration to areas of lower concentration.
• Diffusion through cell membrane is divided into two subtypes
called:
• Simple diffusion
• Facilitated diffusion.
 SIMPLE DIFFUSION
• Simple diffusion is a passive process in which substances move
freely through the lipid bilayer of the plasma membranes of cells
without the help of membrane transport proteins.

• Nonpolar, hydrophobic molecules move across the lipid bilayer

through the process of simple diffusion.
 SIMPLE DIFFUSION

• Simple diffusion through the lipid bilayer is important in the

movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide between blood and
body cells, and between blood and air within the lungs during
breathing.
• The net movement of the molecules across a permeable
membrane where only simple diffusion is occurring is expressed
by Fick’s law of diffusion.
 SIMPLE DIFFUSION

• which states that rate of diffusion (J) is directly proportional

to the difference in the concentration of the substance in two
regions (concentration gradient, i.e. C1− C2) and cross-
sectional area (A).
• Inversely proportional to the distance to be travelled, i.e.
thickness of the membrane (T)
• J = D A(C1− C2) /T
• D is the diffusion coefficient.
 DIFFUSION THROUGH PROTEIN
CHANNELS
• The protein channels are tube-shaped channels which extend in the
cell membrane from the extracellular to the intracellular ends.
Therefore, even the highly lipid insoluble substances can diffuse
by simple diffusion directly through these channels of the cell
membrane. The protein channels have been equipped with
following characteristics:
• Selective permeability
• Gating mechanism
 SELECTIVE PERMEABILITY OF
PROTEIN CHANNELS

• The protein channels are highly selective, i.e. each channel can
permit only one type of ion to pass through it. This results
from the characteristics of the channel itself, such as its
diameter, its shape and nature of electrical charges along its
inside surfaces.
 SELECTIVE PERMEABILITY OF
PROTEIN CHANNELS

• Examples of some selective channels are:

• Sodium channels are specifically selective for the passage of
sodium ions. These are 0.3 by 0.5 nm in size and their inner
surfaces are strongly negatively charged.
• Potassium channels are specifically selective for the passage of
potassium ions. These are 0.3 by 0.3 nm in size and are not
negatively charged.
GATING MECHANISM IN PROTEIN
CHANNELS
• Some protein channels are continuously open, whereas most
others are ‘gated’, i.e. they are equipped with actual gate-like
extensions of the transport protein molecule which can open
and close as per requirement. This gating mechanism is a
means of controlling the permeability of the channels. The
opening and closing of gates are controlled by three principal
ways:
 VOLTAGE-GATED CHANNELS
• These respond to the electrical potential across the cell
membrane. As shown in Fig. 1.3-2 in the case of sodium channels
the gates are located at the outer end of the channels and these
remain tightly closed, when there is a strong negative charge on
the inside of cell membrane. When the inside of cell membrane
loses its negative charge, these gates open and there occurs a
tremendous inflow of sodium ions. This is the basis of occurrence
of action potentials in nerves that are responsible for nerve signals
 VOLTAGE-GATED CHANNELS

• In the case of potassium channels, the gates are located at

inner end of the channel (Fig. 1.3-3) and they too open when
inside of the cell membrane loses its negative charge, but this
response is much slower than that for sodium channel. The
opening of potassium channel gates is partly responsible for
terminating the action potential.
 LIGAND-GATED CHANNELS

• Gates of these channels open when some other chemical molecule

binds with the gate proteins that is why this is also called chemical
gating. One of the most important example of ligand channel
gating is the effect of acetylcholine on the so-called acetylcholine
channels. This gate plays an important role in transmission of
nerve signals from one nerve cell to another and from nerve cells
to muscle cells
 MECHANICAL-GATED
CHANNELS

• Mechanical-gated channels. Some protein channels are opened

by mechanical stretch. These mechano-sensitive channels play
an important role in cell movements.
 FACILITATED DIFFUSION

• The water soluble substances having larger molecules such as

glucose cannot diffuse through the protein channels by simple
diffusion. Such substances diffuse through the cell membrane
with the help of some carrier proteins. Therefore, this type of
diffusion is called facilitated or the carrier mediated diffusion.
 MECHANISM OF FACILITATED
DIFFUSION

• The transport of oxygen in the blood and muscles is example of

facilitated diffusion. In blood, hemoglobin is the carrier protein
whereas in muscles, the carrier protein in the myoglobin. The
diffusion of blood occurs as a result of higher pressure on one
side of the membrane and a lower one on the other side.
 TYPES OF CARRIER PROTEIN SYSTEMS

UNIPORT
In this system the carrier proteins transport only one type of
molecules.
SYMPORT
In this system transport of one substance is linked with transfer of
another substance. For example, facilitated diffusion of glucose in
the renal tubular cells is linked with the transport of sodium.
 TYPES OF CARRIER PROTEIN SYSTEMS

ANTIPORT
In this system the carrier proteins exchange one substance for
another. For example, Na+–K+ exchange or Na+–H+ exchange in the
renal tubules.
 OSMOSIS

• Osmosis refers to diffusion of water or any other solvent

molecules through a semipermeable membrane (i.e.
Membrane permeable to solvent but not to the solute) from a
solution containing lower concentration of solutes towards
the solution containing higher concentration of solutes.
• During osmosis, water molecules pass through a plasma
membrane in two ways:
• (1) By moving between neighboring phospholipid molecules in
the lipid bilayer via simple diffusion.
• (2) By moving through aquaporins or AQPs, integral membrane
proteins that function as water channels. AQPs play a critical role
in controlling the water content of cells. Different types of AQPs
have been found in different cells and tissues throughout the
body.
NORMAL PLASMA OSMOLALITY

• The normal osmolality of the extracellular and intracellular fluids

is 290 milliosmoles per kilogram (mosm/kg). In the plasma of the
total osmolality 270 mosm are contributed by Na+, Cl− and
HCO3 −. the remaining 20 mosm are contributed by glucose and
urea..
 TONICITY OF FLUIDS

• The word tonicity always refers to tonicity of a solution with

respect to that of plasma (290 mosm).
• A solution’s tonicity is a measure of the solution’s ability to change
the volume of cells by altering their water content.
 TYPES OF FLUID
• Isotonic fluids are those which have osmolality similar to plasma.
RBCs neither shrink nor swell in such solution. A solution of 0.9%
Nacl is isotonic with plasma.
• Hypertonic fluids have osmolality higher than the plasma. The
RBCs shrink in such solutions by losing water by osmosis.
• Hypotonic fluids are those whose osmolality is lower than that of
plasma. The RBCs swell up in hypotonic solutions by gaining
water by osmosis.
•THANK
YOU