By: Tiffany M.

Austria
Membrane Transport
Refers to the collection of mechanisms that regulate the passage
of solutes such as ions and small molecules through biological
membranes namely lipid bilayers that contain proteins embedded in
them. The regulation of passage through the membrane is due to
selective membrane permeability a characteristic of biological
membranes which allows them to separate substances of distinct
chemical nature, for instance they can be permeable to certain
substances but not to others.
 Osmosis
The diffusion of water through a Semipermeable membrane. More specifically, it is
the movement of water across a semipermeable membrane from an area of
high water potential (low solute concentration) to an area of low water potential
(high solute concentration). It is a physical process in which a solvent moves, without
input of energy, across a semipermeable membrane (permeable to the solvent but
not the solute) separating two solutions of different concentrations.

Suppose an animal or a plant cell is placed in a solution of sugar or salt in water.

• If the medium is hypotonic — a dilute solution, with a higher water concentration

than the cell — the cell will gain water through osmosis.
• If the medium is isotonic — a solution with exactly the same water concentration as
the cell — there will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane.
• If the medium is hypertonic — a concentrated solution, with a lower water
concentration than the cell — the cell will lose water by osmosis.
Diffusion
The net movement of a substance (liquid or gas) from an area of higher
concentration to one of lower concentration.

TYPES:
1. Passive Diffusion
2. Facilitated Diffusion
Passive Diffusion
Consists of the transport of water and water-soluble substances
and small lipids through the lipid bilayer with a concentration
gradient. 
Passive diffusion is a spontaneous phenomenon that increases
the entropy of a system and decreases the free energy. The transport
process is influenced by the characteristics of the transport substance
and the nature of the bilayer. Membrane proteins are not involved in
passive diffusion. The diffusion velocity of a pure phospholipid
membrane will depend on:
• concentration gradient,
• hydrophobicity,
• size,
• charge, if the molecule has a net charge.

A semi permeable membrane separates

two compartments of different solute
concentrations: over time, the solute will
diffuse until equilibrium is reached.
 Facilitated Diffusion (also known as facilitated transport or passive-
mediated transport
Transporter proteins create a water-filled pore through which ions
and small hydrophilic molecules can pass by diffusion.  
Facilitated diffusion works according to the same thermodynamic
principle of transport along a gradient as passive diffusion. However,
the transport is facilitated by the presence of channel proteins, which
facilitate the transport of, in this instance, water or certain
hydrophilic ions and molecules. These integral membrane proteins are
present as pores immersed in the bilayer, that form a channel with an
hydrophilic interior that allows the passage of highly lipophobic
molecules such as those mentioned above. In unregulated channels the
opening of the channel is continuous and unregulated.
However, regulated channels require a signal to mediate their opening
and closing

Facilitated diffusion in cell membrane,

showing ion channels and carrier proteins.
Active transport
• In active transport a solute is
moved against a concentration or
electrochemical gradient, in doing
so the transport proteins involved
consume metabolic energy, usually
ATP. In primary active
transport the hydrolysis of the
energy provider (e.g. ATP) takes
place directly in order to transport
the solute in question, for instance,
when the transport proteins
are ATPase enzymes. Where the
hydrolysis of the energy provider
is indirect as is the case
in secondary active transport, use
is made of the energy stored in an
electrochemical gradient.
Vesicle-mediated transport

• Vesicles and vacuoles that fuse with the cell membrane may be utilized

to release or transport chemicals out of the cell or to allow them to
enter a cell. Exocytosis is the term applied when transport is out of the
cell.
Endocytosis &  Phagocytosis
• Endocytosis is the case when a molecule causes the cell membrane to
bulge inward, forming a vesicle. Phagocytosis is the type of endocytosis
where an entire cell is engulfed. Pinocytosis is when the external fluid
is engulfed. Receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs when the material
to be transported binds to certain specific molecules in the membrane.
Examples include the transport of insulin and cholesterol into animal
cells.