Lesson Overview

7.3 Cell Transport

Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Passive Transport
What is passive transport?

The movement of materials across the

cell membrane without using
cellular energy is called passive
transport.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Passive Transport
Every living cell exists in a liquid environment.

One of the most important functions of the

cell membrane is to keep the cell’s internal
conditions relatively constant (to maintain
Homeostasis).
It does this by regulating the movement of
molecules from one side of the membrane to
the other side.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

1- Simple Diffusion
The cytoplasm of a cell is a solution of many
different substances dissolved in water.
In any solution, solute particles tend to move from
an area where they are more concentrated to an area
where they are less concentrated.
The process by which particles move from an
area of high concentration to an area of lower
concentration is known as diffusion.
Diffusion is the driving force behind the movement
of many substances across the cell membrane.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

A- Diffusion within the same medium

(No membrane involved)
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

B- Diffusion across a biological membrane

Suppose a substance is present in unequal
concentrations on either side of a cell
membrane.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Diffusion
If the substance can cross the cell
membrane, its particles will tend to move
toward the area where it is less concentrated
until it is evenly distributed.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Diffusion
At that point, the concentration of the substance on
both sides of the cell membrane is the same, and
equilibrium is reached.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Diffusion
Even when equilibrium is reached,
particles of a solution will continue to move
across the membrane in both directions.
  Because almost equal numbers of particles
move in each direction, there is no net change in
the concentration on either side.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Diffusion
Diffusion depends upon random particle
movements. Substances diffuse across
membranes without requiring the cell to use
additional energy.

The movement of materials across the cell

membrane without using cellular energy is
called passive transport (or Diffusion)
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

2- Facilitated Diffusion
Cell membranes have proteins that act as carriers, or
channels, making it easy for certain molecules to cross.

Molecules that cannot directly diffuse across the membrane

pass through special protein channels in a process known as
facilitated diffusion.

Hundreds of different proteins have been found that allow

particular substances to cross cell membranes.

The movement of molecules by facilitated diffusion does

not require any additional use of the cell’s energy.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmosis: An Example of Facilitated

Diffusion
The inside of a cell’s lipid bilayer is
hydrophobic—or “water-fearing.”
Because of this, water molecules
have a tough time passing through
the cell membrane.

Many cells contain water channel

proteins, known as aquaporins, that
allow water to pass right through them.
Without aquaporins, water would
diffuse in and out of cells very slowly.

The movement of water through cell

membranes by facilitated diffusion is an
extremely important biological process
—the process of osmosis.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmosis: An Example of Facilitated

Diffusion

Osmosis is the diffusion of water through

a selectively permeable membrane.

Osmosis involves the movement of water

molecules from an area of higher concentration
(Water Potential) to an area of lower
concentration (Water Potential).
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

How Osmosis Works

In the experimental setup below, the barrier is
permeable to water but not to sugar. This means
that water molecules can pass through the
barrier, but the solute, sugar, cannot.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

How Osmosis Works

The more concentrated sugar solution at the start of the
experiment was hypertonic, or “above strength,”
compared to the dilute sugar solution.
The dilute sugar solution was hypotonic, or “below
strength.”
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

How Osmosis Works

There is a net movement of water into the
compartment containing the concentrated sugar
solution.
Water will tend to move across the barrier until equilibrium
is reached. At that point, the concentrations of water and
sugar will be the same on both sides.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

How Osmosis Works

When the concentration is the same on both
sides of the membrane, the two solutions will be
isotonic, which means “same strength.”
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
For organisms to survive, they must have a
way to balance the intake and loss of water.

The net movement of water out of or into a

cell exerts a force known as osmotic pressure.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
Because the cell is filled with salts, sugars, proteins, and
other molecules, it is almost always hypertonic to fresh
water.
As a result, water tends to move quickly into a cell
surrounded by fresh water, causing it to swell. Eventually, the
cell may burst.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
In plants, the movement of water into the cell causes the
central vacuole to swell, pushing cell contents out against
the cell wall.
Since most cells in large organisms do not come in
contact with fresh water, they are not in danger of bursting.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
Instead, the cells are bathed in fluids, such as blood, that
are isotonic and have concentrations of dissolved materials
roughly equal to those in the cells.

Cells placed in an isotonic solution neither

gain nor lose water.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
In a hypertonic solution, water rushes
out of the cell, causing
1- Animal cells to shrink
2- Plant cell vacuoles to collapse.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
Some cells, such as the eggs laid
by fish and frogs, must come into
contact with fresh water.
These types of cells tend to lack
water channels (Aquaporins)

As a result, water moves into them

so slowly that osmotic pressure does not
become a problem.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Osmotic Pressure
Other cells, including those of plants and bacteria,
that come into contact with fresh water are surrounded
by tough cell walls that prevent the cells from
expanding, even under tremendous osmotic pressure.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Active Transport

Active transport is the movement of materials

against (Up) a concentration difference.

Active transport requires energy.

Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Active Transport
The active
transport of small
molecules or ions
across a cell
membrane is generally
carried out by
transport proteins, or
protein “pumps,” that
are found in the
membrane itself.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Active Transport
Larger molecules and
clumps of material can also
be actively transported across
the cell membrane by processes
known as endocytosis and
exocytosis.

The transport of these

larger materials sometimes
involves changes in the
shape of the cell
membrane.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Molecular Transport
Small molecules and ions
are carried across membranes by
proteins in the membrane that act like
pumps.

Many cells use such proteins

to move calcium, potassium, and
sodium ions across cell membranes.

Changes in protein shape

seem to play an important role in the
pumping process.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Molecular Transport
A considerable portion of the energy used by
cells in their daily activities is devoted to providing
the energy to keep this form of active transport
working.

The use of energy in these systems enables

cells to concentrate substances in a
particular location, even when the forces of
diffusion might tend to move these substances in
the opposite direction.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Bulk Transport

Larger molecules and

even solid clumps of
material may be transported
by movements of the cell
membrane known as
bulk transport.
Bulk transport can take
several forms,
depending on the size and
shape of the material moved
into or out of the cell.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

1- Endocytosis
Endocytosis is the process
of taking material into the cell
by means of infoldings, or
pockets, of the cell membrane.

The pocket that results

breaks loose from the outer
portion of the cell membrane
and forms a vesicle or vacuole
within the cytoplasm.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Endocytosis

Large molecules, clumps of food, and

even whole cells can be taken up by
endocytosis.
Two examples of endocytosis are
phagocytosis (taking in solid material,
or cell eating) and pinocytosis (Taking
in liquid material, or cell drinking)
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Endocytosis

1- In phagocytosis, extensions of cytoplasm

surround a solid particle and package it within a
food vacuole. The cell then engulfs it.

Amoebas use this method for taking in food.

Engulfing material in this way requires a

considerable amount of energy and, therefore, is a
form of active transport.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Endocytosis

2- In pinocytosis, cells take up liquid from

the surrounding environment by forming tiny
pockets along the cell membrane.

The pockets fill with liquid and pinch off to form

vacuoles within the cell.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

2- Exocytosis
Many cells also release
large amounts of material
from the cell, a process
known as exocytosis.
 
During exocytosis, the
membrane of the vacuole
surrounding the material
fuses with the cell
membrane, forcing the
contents out of the cell.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

Keep in mind that:

1- Endocytosis removes part of the
cell membrane.

2- Exocytosis adds to the cell

membrane.
Lesson Overview Cell Transport

H.W.
Section 7.3
Assessment