Cell Membranes

&
Movement Across Them

Regents Biology 2006-2007

 Cell (plasma) membrane
 Cells need an inside & an outside…
 separate cell from its environment
 cell membrane is the boundary

IN OUT
food waste
- sugars - ammonia
- proteins - salts
- fats - CO2
salts
- H2O
O2
products
H2O
- proteins
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cell needs materials in & products or waste out
 Building a membrane
 How do you build a barrier that keeps
the watery contents of the cell separate
from the watery environment?
 FATS 
 LIPIDS 
Remember:
oil & water
don’t mix!!

What substance
do you know
that doesn’t mix
with water?
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 Lipids of cell membrane
 Membrane is made of special kind of lipid
 phospholipids
 “split personality” “attracted to water”
 Membrane is a double layer
 phospholipid bilayer phosphate

inside cell

lipid

“repelled by water”
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outside cell
 Semi-permeable membrane
 Cell membrane controls what gets in or out
 Need to allow some materials — but not all
— to pass through the membrane
 semi-permeable
 only some material can get in or out

So what needs to get across the membrane?

sugar lipids aa O2 H2O salt waste

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 Crossing the cell membrane
 What molecules can get through the cell
membrane directly?
 fats and oils can pass directly through
lipid
inside cell
waste salt

but…
sugar aa H2 O what about
outside cell
other stuff?
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 Lipid bilayers are highly impermeable to
ions and most polar molecules
 Water can pass membrane relatively easily
because of its low molecular weight, high
concentration and lack of complete charge.
 Na+ and K+ travers these membranes 109 times as
slowly as does H20.

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 Cell membrane channels
 Need to make “doors” through membrane
 protein channels allow substances in & out
 specific channels allow specific material in & out
 H2O channel, salt channel, sugar channel, etc.

inside cell H2O aa sugar

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wasteBiology outside cell
 How do you build a semi-permeable
cell membrane?
 Channels are made of proteins
 proteins both “like” water & “like” lipids
bi-lipid protein channels
membrane in bi-lipid membrane

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 FLUID MOSAIC MODEL

FLUID- because individual phospholipids and proteins

can move side-to-side within the layer, like it’s a liquid.
MOSAIC- because of the pattern produced by the
scattered protein molecules when the membrane is
viewed from above.

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 Membrane fluidity
 Is controlled by fatty acid composition and
cholesterol content
 Transition from rigid to the fluid state take
place at the temperature above Tm, melting
temperature
 This transition temperature depends on the
length of the fatty acid chains and on their
degree of unsaturation
 In animals, cholesterol is the key regulator of
membrane fluidity

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 Protein channels
 Proteins act as doors in the membrane
 channels to move specific molecules
through cell membrane

HIGH

LOW
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 Movement through the channel
 Why do molecules move through
membrane if you give them a channel?

?
HIGH

?
LOW

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 Molecules move from high to low
 Diffusion
 move from HIGH to LOW concentration

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 Diffusion of Liquids

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 Diffusion
 Move from HIGH to LOW concentration
 passive transport
 no energy needed
diffusion of water

Regents Biology diffusion osmosis

 Simple Diffusion
 Move from HIGH to LOW
fat
fat fat Which way
inside cell will fat move?
fat fat fat
LOW

HIGH
fat
outside cell fat fat
fat

fat fat fat

fat
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 Facilitated Diffusion
 Move from HIGH to LOW through a channel
sugar sugar
sugar
sugar
inside cell sugar sugar
LOW
Which way will
sugar move?
HIGH
outside cell
sugar sugar
sugar
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sugar sugar sugar
 Diffusion
 Move from HIGH to LOW concentration
 directly through membrane
 simple diffusion
 no energy needed
 help through a protein channel
 facilitated diffusion (with help)
 no energy needed HIGH

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Facilitated Diffusion
Molecules will randomly move through
the pores in Channel Proteins.

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 Facilitated Diffusion

 Some Carrier
proteins do not
extend through the
membrane.
 They bond and drag
molecules through
the lipid bilayer and
release them on the
opposite side.

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 Simple vs. facilitated diffusion

simple diffusion facilitated diffusion

lipid
inside cell inside cell H2O

protein channel

H2O
outside cell outside cell

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 Active transport
 Cells may need molecules to move
against concentration “hill”
 need to pump “uphill”
 from LOW to HIGH using energy
 protein pump
 requires energy

 ATP
ATP

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 Transport summary
simple
diffusion

facilitated
diffusion

active ATP
transport
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Three Forms of Transport Across the Membrane

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 Osmosis
Movement of Water Across
Cell Membrane

Regents Biology 2006-2007

 Osmosis
 Water is very important, so we talk about
water separately
 Osmosis
 diffusion of water from HIGH concentration
of water to LOW concentration of water
 across a semi-permeable membrane

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 Keeping water balance
 Cell survival depends on balancing
water uptake & water loss
freshwater balanced saltwater

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 Isotonic Solution Hypotonic
Hypertonic
Solution
Solution
NO NET
MOVEMENT OF
H2O (equal amounts CYTOLYSIS PLASMOLYSIS
entering & leaving)

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 Cytolysis & Plasmolysis

Cytolysis
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 Osmosis in Red Blood Cells

Isotonic Hypotonic Hypertonic

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1
Keeping right amount of water in cell
 Freshwater freshwater
KABOOM!
 a cell in fresh water
 high concentration of water

around cell
 cell gains water
 example: Paramecium
 problem: cells gain water,
swell & can burst No problem,
here
 water continually enters
Paramecium cell
 solution: contractile vacuole
 pumps water out of cell
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 Controlling water
 Contractile vacuole in Paramecium

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2
Keeping right amount of water in cell
 Saltwater I’m shrinking, saltwater
I’m shrinking!
 a cell in salt water
 low concentration of water

around cell
 cell loses water
 example: shellfish
 problem: cell loses water
I will
 in plants: plasmolysis survive!
 in animals: shrinking cell
 solution: take up water
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3
Keeping right amount of water in cell
 Balanced conditions That’s balanced
better!
 no difference in
concentration of water
between cell & environment
 cell in equilibrium
 example: blood
 problem: none
 water flows across I could
be better…
membrane equally,
in both directions
 volume of cell doesn’t
change
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 Aquaporins

 Water Channels WATER

 Protein pores used during OSMOSIS
MOLECULES

copyright
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cmassengale
Types of Transport Proteins
 Channel proteins are embedded in
the cell membrane & have a pore for
materials to cross
 Carrier proteins can change shape to
move material from one side of the
membrane to the other

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 Active Transport

Requires energy or ATP

Moves materials from
LOW to HIGH
concentration
AGAINST concentration
gradient

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 Active transport

 Examples: Pumping Na+

(sodium ions) out and K+
(potassium ions) in against
strong concentration
gradients.
 Called Na+-K+ Pump

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 Sodium-Potassium Pump

3 Na+ pumped in for every 2 K+ pumped out;

creates a membrane potential
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 Moving the “Big Stuff”

Exocytosis
- moving
things
out.

Molecules are moved out of the cell by vesicles that fuse

with the plasma membrane.
This is how many hormones are secreted and how nerve
cells communicate with one another.
41
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another
 Exocytosis
Exocytic
vesicle
immediately
after fusion
with plasma
membrane.

Regents Biology 42
 Moving the “Big Stuff”
Large molecules move materials into the cell by
one of three forms of endocytosis.
endocytosis

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 Endocytosis

Vesicle forming

Endocytosis can occur in three ways

• Phagocytosis ("cell eating")
• Pinocytosis ("cell drinking")
Regents Biology • Receptor-mediated endocytosis
 Endocytosis
Endocytosis
 PM sinks inward, pinches off and forms
a vesicle
 Vesicle often merges with Golgi for
processing and sorting of its contents

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 Pinocytosis

Most common form of endocytosis.

endocytosis
Takes
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in dissolved molecules as a vesicle
46
.
 Pinocytosis

 Cell forms an
invagination
 Materials dissolve
in water to be
brought into cell
 Called “Cell
Drinking”

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 Example of Pinocytosis
pinocytic vesicles forming mature transport vesicle

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Transport across a capillary cell (blue).
Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis

Some integral proteins have receptors

on their surface to recognize & take in
hormones, cholesterol, etc.
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 Receptor Mediated Endocytosis
 Receptor Mediated Endocytosis is a
highly specific form of endocytosis.
 Receptor proteins on the outside of
the cell bind specific substances and
bring them into the cell by endocytosis

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 Receptor Mediated Endocytosis
1. Receptor proteins on PM bind specific
substances (vitamins, hormones..)
2. Membrane sinks in and forms a pit
– Called a coated pit
3. Pit pinches closed to form a vesicle
around bound substances
 Cytoskeleton aids in pulling in the
membrane and vesicle formation

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Fig. 5-9c

Receptor-mediated endocytosis Plasma membrane

Coat protein
Receptor Coated
vesicle

Coated
pit

Coated
pit
Specific
molecule

Material bound
to receptor proteins

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Regents Biology
Fig. 5-9 Phagocytosis
EXTRACELLULAR CYTOPLASM Food
FLUID being
Pseudopodium ingested

“Food” or
other particle
Food
vacuole

Pinocytosis

Plasma
membrane

Vesicle

Receptor-mediated endocytosis Plasma membrane

Coat protein
Receptor Coated
vesicle

Coated
pit

Coated
pit
Specific
molecule

Material bound
to receptor proteins
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Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis

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Regents Biology 56
 Endocytosis – Phagocytosis

Used to engulf large particles such as

food, bacteria, etc. into vesicles

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Called “Cell Eating” 57
Regents Biology copyright 58
 Phagocytosis About to Occur

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Phagocytosis
- Capture
of a Yeast
Cell (yellow)
by
Membrane
Extensions
of an
Immune
System Cell
(blue)
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 Endocytosis - comments
Phagocytosis and pinocytosis are not
selective
 Membrane sinks inward and captures
whatever particles/fluid present.
 Vesicle forms and merges with the
Golgi body…

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 Exocytosis
The opposite of endocytosis is exocytosis. Large
molecules that are manufactured in the cell are
released through the cell membrane.

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Inside Cell Cell environment 62