THE MOVEMENT OF

MATERIALS IN AND
OUT OF CELLS
 “
INQUIRY QUESTION:
“How do cells coordinate activities
within their internal environment and
the external environment?”
 CONTENT TO BE COVERED
◉ Passive Transport
○ A closer look at diffusion and osmosis
■ Modelling diffusion and osmosis
■ Factors that affect the rate of diffusion and osmosis
◉ Active Transport
○ Modelling active transport
○ Types of active transport
■ Exocytosis
■ Endocytosis
 THE MOVEMENT OF MATERIALS
The movement of materials into and out of the cells
takes place either passively or actively
◉ Passive movement include the process of
diffusion and osmosis, types of movements
requiring no energy input from the cell
◉ Active transport requires an input of cellular
energy to actively move molecules.
PASSIVE TRANSPORT
 DIFFUSION
◉ Diffusion is the movement of any molecules from a region of high concentration to a
region of low concentration of that substances, until equilibrium is reached (no
energy input required)
◉ This difference in concentration of a
substance in two areas, which may
be divided by a barrier, is called a
concentration gradient
 DIFFUSION
◉ Diffusion results from the random motion (due to kinetic
energy) of atoms and molecules. This motion was first
discovered by Robert Brown, and so is known as
Brownian motion
◉ Diffusion could involve the movement of solid, liquid or
gas molecules through another medium that may also be
solid, liquid or gas.
 FACTORS AFFECTING RATE OF DIFFUSION
◉ The rate of diffusion changes, depending on the concentration gradient
◉ If there is a greater difference in the concentration of substances, the concentration
gradient will be steeper and the diffusion will occur faster

◉ Diffusion can also speed up or slow

down, depend on the temperature:
heat increases, the rate of diffusion
because the kinetic energy of the
particles speed up
 FACTORS AFFECTING RATE OF DIFFUSION
◉ Some larger molecules and electrically-charged
molecules move too slowly by simple diffusion to satisfy
the needs of cells
◉ To overcome this problem, proteins in the cell
membrane may act as membrane transporters,
accelerating the movement of molecules across the
membrane
◉ If the movement is along a concentration gradient, no
energy input is required and the process is termed
facilitated diffusion
 FACILITATED DIFFUSION
◉ In facilitated diffusion movement of molecules are assisted (facilitated) by carrier
proteins in the membrane
◉ Each protein that acts as a membrane-transporter is specific to one solute or several
similar solutes
◉ It allows the movement of a
larger or charged molecules to
occur more rapidly than would be
expected as a result of simple
diffusion for the molecule
 FACILITATED DIFFUSION
◉ The protein may act in one of two ways : as a channel protein or as a carrier protein
⊚ A channel is the fastest form of
transport. Channels work like gates
and they have ‘open’ and ‘closed’
states, determined by electrical or
physical signals.
 FACILITATED DIFFUSION
◉ The protein may act in one of two ways : as a channel protein or as a carrier protein
⊚ A carrier protein binds with a solute
and then the protein changes shape
or conformation to move the solute
to the other side of the membrane.
Once it releases the solute on the
other side, the carrier return to its
original shape
 OSMOSIS
◉ Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a region of high water
concentration to a region of low water concentration through a selectively permeable
membrane (it does not require an energy input)
 OSMOSIS
◉ Water moves through special tiny proteins channels in cell membranes called
aquaporins (‘water pores’)
◉ As a result, the movement of water across membranes
is much more rapid than would otherwise be expected
◉ Tissues with a high-water permeability have a greater
number of aquaporins in their cell membranes (e.g.
kidney cells)
 OSMOSIS
◉ The rate of water movement through the membrane is affected by two things:

1. Solute concentration: the concentration of

dissolved substances in the solution
2. Opposing physical pressures or tension
exerted on the water (how much it is being
squeezed or pulled) by the space that it is
moving into
OSMOSIS AND CELLS
 OSMOSIS IN PLANT CELLS

In concentrated In a balanced In a dilute solution

Solution solution High water concentration
Low water concentration Equal water concentrations outside the cell
outside the cell inside & out
 COMPARING DIFFUSION AND OSMOSIS
◉ Diffusion and osmosis are both
examples of passive transport
◉ Passive transport is characterised
by the movement of a substance
down a concentration gradient in
which no cellular energy is
expended
ACTIVE TRANSPORT
 ACTIVE TRANSPORT
◉ Active transport requires a carrier protein that spans the membrane to actively move
chemicals from a low to high concentration, utilising cellular energy
 ACTIVE TRANSPORT
◉ In addition to moving small ions and molecules through the membrane, cells also
need to remove and take in larger molecules and particles.
◉ Some cells are even capable of engulfing entire unicellular microorganisms.
◉ There are two primary mechanisms that transport these large particles:
○ Endocytosis
○ Exocytosis
 ENDOCYTOSIS
◉ Endocytosis is the type of active transport that moves particle, such as large
molecules, parts of cells and even whole cells, INTO a cell.
◉ There are variations of endocytosis, but all share a common characteristics:
○ The material to be internalised is surrounded by an
area of plasma membrane, which then buds off inside
the cell to form a pocket
○ The pocket pinches off, resulting in the particle being
contained in a newly created intracellular vesicle
formed from the plasma membrane
 ENDOCYTOSIS
◉ There are three main types of endocytosis:

○ Phagocytosis
○ Pinocytosis
○ Receptor-Mediated
Endocytosis
 ENDOCYTOSIS: Phagocytosis
◉ Phagocytosis (the condition of “cell eating”) is the process by which large particles,
such as cells or relatively large particles, are taken in by the cell.
○ For example, when microorganisms invade the human body,
a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil will remove the
invaders through this process: surrounding and engulfing the
microorganisms, which is then destroyed by the neutrophil
 ENDOCYTOSIS: Phagocytosis
◉ Once the vesicle containing the particle is enclosed within
the cell, the vesicle merges with a lysosome for the
breakdown of the material in the newly formed
compartment (endosome)
◉ When accessible nutrients from the degradation of the
vesicular contents have been extracted, the newly formed
endosome merges with the plasma membrane and
releases it contents into the extracellular fluid.
◉ The endosomal membrane again becomes part of the
plasma membrane
 ENDOCYTOSIS: Pinocytosis
◉ A variation of endocytosis is called pinocytosis.
◉ This literally means “cell drinking” and was named at a time
when the assumption was that the cell was purposefully
taking in extracellular fluid.
◉ In reality, this is a process that takes in molecules, including
water, which the cell needs from the extracellular fluid.
◉ Like phagocytosis, pinocytosis is a non-specific process in
which the cell takes in whatever solute that are dissolved in
the liquid it envelops
 ENDOCYTOSIS: Pinocytosis
◉ Pinocytosis results in a much smaller vesicle than does not need to merge with a
lysosome
ENDOCYTOSIS: Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis
◉ Unlike phagocytosis and pinocytosis, receptor-mediated endocytosis is an
extremely selective process of importing materials into the cell

◉ This specificity is mediated by receptor

proteins located on depressed areas of
the cell membrane called coated pits.
◉ The cytosolic surface of coated pits is
covered by coat proteins.
ENDOCYTOSIS: Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis
◉ In receptor-mediated endocytosis, the cell will only take in an
extracellular molecule if it binds to its specific receptor protein
on the cell’s surface.
◉ Once bound, the coated pit on which the bound receptor
protein is located then pinches in to form a coated vesicle.
◉ Similar to the digestive process in non-specific phagocytosis,
this coated vesicle then fuses with a lysosome to digest the
engulfed material and release it into the cytosol.
 EXOCYTOSIS
◉ Exocytosis is the process of cell secretion
or excretion
 EXOCYTOSIS
◉ The purpose of exocytosis is to expel material from the cell into the extracellular fluid.

◉ Waste material is enveloped in a membrane and

fuses with the interior of the plasma membrane.
◉ This fusion opens the membranous envelope on
the exterior of the cell, and the waste material is
expelled into the extracellular space.
 SUMMARY

ACTIVE Transport PASSIVE Transport

Entry point Through carrier proteins Through carrier proteins (facilitated

diffusion) or between phospholipids
(osmosis and diffusion)

Rate of Movement Fast Slow

Concentration Low to High High to Low

Energy Energy required Energy not required

Examples of Sugar and amino acids Water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sugars and
molecules amino acids.
transported