AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Diffusion
 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
governs biological systems
 Universe tends towards disorder

Cell Membranes &

Transport  Diffusion
 movement from high  low concentration
2008-2009

Diffusion of 2 solutes Diffusion

 Each substance diffuses down its own  Move for HIGH to LOW concentration
concentration gradient, independent of  “passive transport”
concentration gradients of other  no energy needed
substances

diffusion osmosis

Cell (plasma) membrane Building a membrane

 Cells need an inside & an outside…  How do you build a barrier that keeps
 separate cell from its environment the watery contents of the cell separate
 cell membrane is the boundary from the watery environment?
Your choices
Can it be an impenetrable boundary? NO!  carbohydrates?
IN  proteins?
OUT
food waste  nucleic acids?
carbohydrates OUT ammonia  lipids?
sugars, proteins salts
amino acids CO2
IN
lipids H2O  LIPIDS 
salts, O2, H2O products oil & water
2008-2009
cell needs materials in & products or waste out don’t mix!!
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Lipids of cell membrane Phospholipids—Remember them?

 Membrane is made of phospholipids
 phospholipid bilayer

hydrophilic
inside cell phosphate

lipid

hydrophobic
outside cell

Semi-permeable membrane Phospholipid bilayer

 Need to allow passage through the  What molecules can get through directly?
membrane
 But need to control what gets in or out fats & other lipids
lipid can slip directly
 membrane needs to be semi-permeable inside cell
NH3 salt through the
phospholipid cell
sugar aa lipid H2O salt NH3 membrane, but…
So how do you build a what about other
semi-permeable membrane? stuff?
outside cell sugar aa H2O

Simple diffusion across membrane Permeable cell membrane

Which way will  Need to allow more material through
lipid move?
lipid lipid lipid  membrane needs to be permeable to…
inside cell  all materials a cell needs to bring in
lipid lipid lipid  all waste a cell needs excrete out
low
 all products a cell needs to export out


inside cell sugar

Haa
2O lipid
high “holes”, or
lipid channels, in cell
outside cell lipid lipid
lipid membrane allow
material in & out
lipid lipid lipid
lipid
outside cell salt3
NH
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Diffusion through a channel Semi-permeable cell membrane

 Movement from high to low  But the cell still needs control
sugar sugar Which way  membrane needs to be semi-permeable
sugar
will sugar  specific channels allow
inside cell sugar sugar move?
low specific material in & out

inside cell aa sugar



H2O

high
outside cell
sugar sugar
sugar
sugar sugar sugar sugar outside salt
NH3 cell

How do you build a semi-permeable Why proteins?

cell membrane?  Proteins are mixed molecules
 What molecule will sit “comfortably” in a  hydrophobic amino acids
phospholipid bilayer forming channels  stick in the lipid membrane
 anchors the protein in membrane
bi-lipid protein channels
membrane in bi-lipid membrane  hydrophilic amino acids
what  stick out in the watery
properties fluid in & around cell
does it
need?  specialized “receptor”
for specific molecules

2008-2009

Facilitated Diffusion Active Transport

 Globular proteins act as doors in membrane  Globular proteins act as ferry for specific molecules
 channels to move specific molecules through  shape change transports solute from one side of
membrane to other  protein “pump”
cell membrane
 “costs” energy
open channel = fast transport
conformational change
high low

low high
“The Bouncer” “The Doorman”
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Getting through cell membrane Facilitated diffusion

 Passive transport  Move from HIGH to LOW concentration
 diffusion of hydrophobic (lipids) molecules through a protein channel
 high  low concentration gradient
 Facilitated transport (passive)  passive transport
 diffusion of hydrophilic molecules  no energy needed
 through a protein channel  facilitated = with help
 high  low concentration gradient
 Active transport
 diffusion against concentration gradient
 low  high
 uses a protein pump
 requires ATP
2008-2009

Gated channels Active transport

 Some channel proteins open only in  Cells may need molecules to move
presence of stimulus (signal) against concentration situation
 stimulus usually different from  need to pump against concentration
transported molecule  protein pump
 ex: ion-gated channels  requires energy
when neurotransmitters bind to a specific  ATP
gated channels on a neuron, these channels
open = allows Na+ ions to enter nerve cell
 ex: voltage-gated channels
change in electrical charge across nerve cell Na+/K+ pump
membrane opens Na+ & K+ channels in nerve cell
membranes
2008-2009

Active transport Transport summary

 Many models & mechanisms

using ATP using ATP

AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

How about large molecules? Endocytosis

 Moving large molecules into & out of cell fuse with
 through vesicles & vacuoles phagocytosis lysosome for
digestion
 Called “bulk transport” in general

 endocytosis

 phagocytosis = “cellular eating”

 pinocytosis = “cellular drinking” pinocytosis non-specific
process
 receptor-mediated
endocytosis
 exocytosis
receptor-mediated triggered by
endocytosis ligand signal
2008-2009
exocytosis

Osmosis is diffusion of water

 Water is very important, so we talk
about water separately
 Diffusion of water from
The Special Case of Water high concentration of water to
low concentration of water
Movement of water across  across a
the cell membrane semi-permeable
membrane

2008-2009 2008-2009

Concentration of water Osmosis…

 Direction of osmosis is determined by
comparing total solute concentrations
 Hypertonic - more solute, less water
 Hypotonic - less solute, more water
 Isotonic - equal solute, equal water

.05 M .03 M

water

hypotonic hypertonic Cell (compared to beaker)  hypertonic or hypotonic

net movement of water Beaker (compared to cell)  hypertonic or hypotonic
Which way does the water flow?  in or out of cell
2008-2009
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Managing water balance Managing water balance

 Cell survival depends on balancing  Isotonic
water uptake & loss  animal cell immersed in
isotonic solution
 blood cells in blood
 no net movement of water
across plasma membrane
 water flows across
membrane, at same rate in
both directions
 volume of cell is stable

freshwater balanced saltwater

Managing water balance Water regulation

 Hypotonic  Contractile vacuole in Paramecium
 animal cell in hypotonic solution
will gain water, swell & burst
 Paramecium vs. pond water
 Paramecium is hypertonic
 H2O continually enters cell
 to solve problem, specialized
organelle, contractile vacuole
 pumps H2O out of cell = ATP
 plant cell
 Turgidity! Super important!!!

1991 | 2003
Managing water balance Aquaporins
 Hypertonic  Water moves rapidly into & out of cells
 animal cell in hypertonic  evidence that there were water channels
solution will loose water, shrivel
& probably die  Special proteins JUST for water
 salt water organisms are
hypotonic compared to their
environment
 they have to take up water &
pump out salt
 plant cells
 plasmolysis = wilt (Wednesday’s
lab) Peter Agre Roderick MacKinnon
John Hopkins Rockefeller
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Water potential
 Hypo, hyper, and isotonic environments
can be put in the context of water potential
 Water’s ability to move is its potential
 Water ALWAYS moves from higher to
lower water potential
 Less negative  more negative numbers
 Why is this so unnecessarily confusing?
The negative number comes from how
much solute is in concentration. A more
negative number means more solute
and thus water will move in that direction
 This is called osmosis!

More than just a barrier… Fluid Mosaic Model

 Expanding our view of cell membrane  In 1972, S.J. Singer & G. Nicolson
beyond just a phospholipid bilayer proposed that membrane proteins are
barrier inserted into the phospholipid bilayer
 phospholipids plus…

2008-2009

A membrane is a collage of different proteins Membrane Proteins

embedded in the fluid matrix of the lipid bilayer
 Proteins determine most of membrane’s
specific functions
 cell membrane & organelle membranes each
have unique collections of proteins
 Membrane proteins:
 peripheral proteins = loosely
bound to surface of membrane
 integral proteins = penetrate into
lipid bilayer, often completely
spanning the membrane =
transmembrane protein

2008-2009 2008-2009
AICE Biology: Cell Membranes and Transport

Membranes provide a variety of cell functions

Membrane Carbohydrates
 Play a key role in cell-cell recognition
 ability of a cell to distinguish
neighboring cells from another
 important in organ &

tissue development
 basis for rejection of

foreign cells by
immune system

2008-2009

Any Questions??
Fluid Mosaic Model

2008-2009