1.

4 : Membrane Transport
 Cellular membranes

❖ semi-permeable
• only certain materials may freely cross
• large and charged substances are typically blocked
❖ selective
• membrane proteins may regulate the passage of material that cannot freely
cross
 Types of Transport

❖ Diffusion – pass through easily or through a ‘tunnel’

❖ Active Transport – needs energy

❖ Endo/ Exo cytosis – lager molecules use their own

membrane to get through
 Passive Transport

• Passive transport involves the movement of material along a

concentration gradient (high concentration ⇒ low concentration)
• materials are moving down a concentration gradient, it does not require
the expenditure of energy (ATP hydrolysis)
• Simple diffusion – movement of small or lipophilic molecules (e.g. O2, CO2,
etc.)
• Osmosis – movement of water molecules (dependent on solute
concentrations)
• Facilitated diffusion – movement of large or charged molecules via
membrane proteins (e.g. ions, sucrose, etc.)
 Active Transport

• Active transport involves the movement of materials against a

concentration gradient (low concentration ⇒ high concentration)
• Materials are moving against the gradient, it requires the expenditure of
energy (e.g. ATP hydrolysis)
• Primary (direct) active transport – Involves the direct use of metabolic
energy (e.g. ATP hydrolysis) to mediate transport
• Secondary (indirect) active transport – Involves coupling the molecule with
another moving along an electrochemical gradient
 Diffusion

• Diffusion is the passive net movement of

molecules from a region of high
concentration to a region of low
concentration usually across a partially
permeable memebrane
– Passive – does not require energy
– Net Movement – Overall movement (all
particles are moving all the time)
– Concentration gradient – the difference in
concentration of solute in two different
locations

▪This directional movement along a gradient is passive and will continue until
molecules become evenly dispersed (equilibrium)
▪Small and non-polar (lipophilic) molecules will be able to freely diffuse across cell
membranes (e.g. O2, CO2, glycerol)
 Rate of diffusion

• Temperature - affects kinetic energy of particles in solution

• Molecular size - larger particles are subjected to greater resistance
within a fluid medium
• Steepness of gradient - rate of diffusion will be greater with a higher
concentration gradient
• Surface Area - greater the surface area higher the rate of diffusion
• Length of diffusion path - smaller and less hindered path covered
quickly
 Adaptations for diffusion

• Maximizing Surface area fro

absorption
– Alveoli in lungs
– Membrane folds in mitochindria –
cristae
– Root hairs for water and mineral ion
uptake
– Villi for absorption of digested food
molecules
 Adaptations for diffusion

• Reducing the length of diffusion path

– Membrane are incredibly thin (7-10nm)
– Folded membrane increases the surface are to volume ratio
– More membranes in a smaller volume means shorter distance across which
molecules must diffuse
 Osmosis

• Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules across

a semi-permeable membrane from a region of low
solute concentration to a region of high solute concentration (until
equilibrium is reached)
• Water is considered the universal solvent – it will associate with, and
dissolve, polar or charged molecules (solutes)
• Because solutes cannot cross a cell membrane unaided, water will
move to equalise the two solutions
• At a higher solute concentration there are less free water molecules
in solution as water is associated with the solute
• Osmosis is essentially the diffusion of free water molecules and
hence occurs from regions of low solute concentration
Aquaporin is an integral protein that, as it’s name suggests, acts
as a pore in the membrane that speeds the movement of water
molecules
 Osmolarity
• Osmolarity is a measure of solute concentration, as defined by the number
of osmoles of a solute per litre of solution (osmol/L)

• Solutions with a relatively higher osmolarity are categorised as hypertonic

(high solute concentration ⇒ gains water)

• Solutions with a relatively lower osmolarity are categorised as hypotonic

(low solute concentration ⇒ loses water)

• Solutions that have the same osmolarity are categorised as isotonic (same
solute concentration ⇒ no net water flow)
 Estimating Osmolarity

• The osmolarity of a tissue may be interpolated by bathing the sample in

solutions with known osmolarities
• The tissue will lose water when placed in hypertonic solutions and gain
water when placed in hypotonic solutions
• Water loss or gain may be determined by weighing the sample before and
after bathing in solution
• Tissue osmolarity may be inferred by identifying the concentration of
solution at which there is no weight change (i.e. isotonic)
 Effects of Solute Concentrations on Cells

Uncontrolled osmosis will have negative effects with regards to cell viability:
• In hypertonic solutions, water will leave the cell causing it to shrivel (crenation)
• In hypotonic solutions, water will enter the cell causing it to swell and
potentially burst (lysis)

In plant tissues, the effects of uncontrolled osmosis are moderated by the

presence of an inflexible cell wall
• In hypertonic solutions, the cytoplasm will shrink (plasmolysis) but the cell wall
will maintain a structured shape
• In hypotonic solutions, the cytoplasm will expand but be unable to rupture
within the constraints of the cell wall (turgor)
 Importance of Osmotic Control

• Preventing damage to cells and tissues

•Common medical procedures in which an isotonic saline solution is useful:

• fluids introduction to a patient’s blood system via an intravenous drip,
e.g for rehydration
• used to rinse wounds, skin abrasions etc.
• keep areas of damaged skin moist before applying skin grafts
• eye drops/wash
• frozen and used pack donor organs for transportation
 Facilitated Diffusion
• Facilitated diffusion is the passive movement of molecules across the cell
membrane via the aid of a membrane protein

• It is utilised by molecules that are unable to freely cross the phospholipid

bilayer (e.g. large, polar molecules and ions)
• Transmembrane (polytopic) proteins recognise a particular molecule and
help it to move across the membrane. The direction it moves is dependent
on the concentration gradient.
– channel proteins
– carrier proteins
 Facilitated Diffusion
Carrier Proteins
• Integral glycoproteins which bind a
solute and undergo
a conformational change to
translocate the solute across the
membrane
• Only bind a specific molecule via an
attachment similar to an
enzyme-substrate interaction
• May move molecules against
concentration gradients in the
presence of ATP (i.e. are used in
active transport)
• Much slower rate of transport than
channel proteins (by an order of
~1,000 molecules per second)
Channel Proteins
• Integral lipoproteins which contain
a pore via which ions may cross
from one side of the membrane to
the other
• Ion-selective and may be gated to
regulate the passage of ions in
response to certain stimuli
• Only move molecules along a
concentration gradient (i.e. are not
used in active transport)
• Much faster rate of transport than
carrier proteins
 Potassium Channels
• Integral proteins with a hydrophilic inner pore via which potassium ions
may be transported
• Four transmembrane subunits, while the inner pore contains a selectivity
filter at its narrowest region that restricts passage of alternative ions
• Voltage-gated and cycle between an opened and closed conformation
depending on the transmembrane voltage
 Active Transport
• Active transport uses energy to move molecules against a concentration
gradient
– Active transport involves the use of carrier proteins (protein pumps )
– A specific solute will bind to the protein pump on one side of the membrane
– The hydrolysis of ATP (to ADP + Pi) causes a conformational change in the protein pump
– The solute molecule is consequently translocated across the membrane (against the
gradient) and released

• primary active transport - direct hydrolysis of ATP

• secondary active transport - indirectly coupling transport with another
molecule that is moving along its gradient
 Sodium-Potassium Pump
• An integral protein that exchanges 3 sodium ions (moves out of cell) with two
potassium ions (moves into cell)
• The process of ion exchange against the gradient is energy-dependent
1. Three sodium ions bind to intracellular sites on the sodium-potassium pump
2. A phosphate group is transferred to the pump via the hydrolysis of ATP
3. The pump undergoes a conformational change, translocating sodium across the membrane
4. The conformational change exposes two potassium binding sites on the extracellular
surface of the pump
5. The phosphate group is released which causes the pump to return to its original
conformation
6. This translocates the potassium across the membrane, completing the ion exchange
 Vesicles
•Vesicles are small spheroidal packages
that bud off of the RER and the Golgi
apparatus

•Materials destined for secretion are

transported around the cell in
membranous containers called vesicles

•They carry proteins produced by

ribosomes on the RER to the Golgi
apparatus, where they are prepared for
export from the cell via another vesicle
 Endoplasmic Reticulum
•a membranous network - responsible for synthesising secretory materials
•Rough ER - ribosomes - synthesises proteins destined for extracellular use
•Materials are transported - membrane bulges and then buds to create a vesicle surrounding the
material

Golgi Apparatus
•Vesicle transported to the Golgi apparatus - fuses to the internal (cis) face of the complex
•Materials move via vesicles - internal cis face of the Golgi - externally oriented trans face
•within the Golgi apparatus - materials may be structurally modified (e.g. truncated, glycosylated)
•Material sorted within the Golgi apparatus
•Released immediately into the extracellular fluid (constitutive secretion)
•Stored within an intracellular vesicle for a delayed release in response to a cellular signal
(regulatory secretion)

Plasma Membrane
•Vesicles containing materials destined for extracellular use will be transported to the plasma
membrane
•The vesicle will fuse with the cell membrane and its materials will be expelled into the extracellular
fluid
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/vesiclebudding.
html
 Bulk Transport

Endocytosis Exocytosis
▪ The taking in of external ▪ The release of substances
substances by an inward from a cell (secretion) when
pouching of the plasma a vesicle joins with the cell
membrane, forming a plasma membrane.
vesicle ▪ The process by which large
▪ The process by which large substances (or bulk
substances (or bulk amounts of small
amounts of smaller substances) exit the cell
substances) enter the cell without crossing the
without crossing the membrane
membrane
 Endocytosis
• Plasma membrane is pinched as a result of the membrane changing shape.
• External material (i.e. fluid droplets) are engulfed and enclosed by the
membrane.
• A vesicle is formed that contains the enclosed particles or fluid droplets,
now moves into the cytoplasm.
• The plasma membrane easily reattaches at the ends that were pinched
because of the fluidity of the membrane.
• Vesicles that move through the cytoplasm are broken down and dissolve
into the cytoplasm.
– phagocytosis - The process by which solid substances are ingested
– pinocytosis - The process by which liquids / dissolved substances are
ingested
– receptor-mediated endocytosis (using receptors)
 Exocytosis
• After a vesicle created by the rough ER enters the Golgi apparatus, it is
again modified, and another vesicle is budded from the end of the Golgi
apparatus, which moves towards the cell membrane.
• This vesicle migrates to the plasma membrane and fuses with the
membrane, releasing the protein outside the cell through a process
called exocytosis.
• The fluidity of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of the
phospholipids and the fluidity of the membrane allows the
phospholipids from the vesicle to combine to the plasma membrane to
form a new membrane that includes the phospholipids from the vesicle.
– continuously (constitutive secretion e.g. saliva)
– response to a signal (regulated secretion e.g. insulin)