LECTURE 5

Transport across Biological Membranes

An Introduction to Cells:
Cells are considered the basic units of life in part because they come in
discrete and easily recognizable packages. That's because all cells are surrounded by
a structure called the cell membrane — which, much like the walls of a house, serves
as a clear boundary between the cell's internal and external environments. The cell
membrane is sometimes also referred to as the plasma membrane. Cell membranes
are based on a framework of fat-based molecules called phospholipids, which
physically prevent water-loving, or hydrophilic, substances from entering or
escaping the cell. These membranes are also studded with proteins that serve various
functions. Some of these proteins act as gatekeepers, determining what substances
can and cannot cross the membrane. Others function as markers, identifying the cell
as part of the same organism or as foreign. Still others work like fasteners, binding
cells together so they can function as a unit. Yet other membrane proteins serve as
communicators, sending and receiving signals from neighboring cells and the
environment — whether friendly or alarming. Within this membrane, a cell's interior
environment is water based. Called cytoplasm, this liquid environment is packed full
of cellular machinery and structural elements. In fact, the concentrations of proteins
inside a cell far outnumber those on the outside — whether the outside is ocean water
(as in the case of a single-celled alga) or blood serum (as in the case of a red blood
cell). Although cell membranes form natural barriers in watery environments, a cell
must nonetheless expend quite a bit of energy to maintain the high concentrations of
intracellular constituents necessary for its survival. Indeed, cells may use as much
as 30 percent of their energy just to maintain the composition of their cytoplasm.

SAHAR NADEEM 1
 LECTURE 5

What Other Components Do Cells Have?

A cell's cytoplasm is home to numerous functional and structural elements.
These elements exist in the form of molecules and organelles — picture them as the
tools, appliances, and inner rooms of the cell. Major classes of intracellular organic
molecules include nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, all of which are
essential to the cell's functions. Nucleic acids are the molecules that contain and help
express a cell's genetic code. There are two major classes of nucleic acids:
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is the molecule that
contains all of the information required to build and maintain the cell; RNA has
several roles associated with expression of the information stored in DNA. Of
course, nucleic acids alone aren't responsible for the preservation and expression of
genetic material: Cells also use proteins to help replicate the genome and accomplish
the profound structural changes that underlie cell division. Proteins are a second type
of intracellular organic molecule. These substances are made from chains of smaller
molecules called amino acids, and they serve a variety of functions in the cell, both
catalytic and structural. For example, proteins called enzymes convert cellular
molecules (whether proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, or nucleic acids) into other forms
that might help a cell meet its energy needs, build support structures, or pump out
wastes. Carbohydrates, the starches and sugars in cells, are another important type
of organic molecule. Simple carbohydrates are used for the cell's immediate energy
demands, whereas complex carbohydrates serve as intracellular energy stores.
Complex carbohydrates are also found on a cell's surface, where they play a crucial
role in cell recognition. Finally, lipids or fat molecules are components of cell
membranes — both the plasma membrane and various intracellular membranes.
They are also involved in energy storage, as well as relaying signals within cells and
from the bloodstream to a cell's interior. Some cells also feature orderly

SAHAR NADEEM 2
 LECTURE 5

arrangements of molecules called organelles. Similar to the rooms in a house, these

structures are partitioned off from the rest of a cell's interior by their own
intracellular membrane. Organelles contain highly technical equipment required for
specific jobs within the cell. One example is the mitochondrion — commonly known
as the cell's "power plant" — which is the organelle that holds and maintains the
machinery involved in energy-producing chemical reactions.

Biological membranes:
Biological membranes, or bio-membranes, are selectively permeable barriers that
separate the interior of cells from their external environment and create internal
compartments, playing a crucial role in cell function and organization.

Biological membranes allow life as we know it to exist. They form cells and enable
separation between the inside and outside of an organism, controlling by means of
their selective permeability which substances enter and leave. By allowing gradients
of ions to be created across them, membranes also enable living organisms to
generate energy. In addition, they control the flow of messages between cells by
sending, receiving and processing information in the form of chemical and electrical
signals.

Three types of lipid are found in biological membranes, namely phospholipids,

glycolipids and sterols.

Phospholipids: Phospholipids consist of two fatty acid chains linked to glycerol and
a phosphate group. Phospholipids containing glycerol are referred to as
glycerophospholipids. An example of a glycerophospholipid that is commonly
found in biological membranes is phosphatidylcholine (PC), which has a choline
molecule attached to the phosphate group.

SAHAR NADEEM 3
 LECTURE 5

Glycolipids: Glycolipids can contain either glycerol or sphingosine, and always

have a sugar such as glucose in place of the phosphate head found in phospholipids.

Sterols: Sterols are absent from most bacterial membranes, but are an important
component of animal (typically cholesterol) and plant (mainly stigmasterol)
membranes. Cholesterol has a quite different structure to that of the phospholipids
and glycolipids. It consists of a hydroxyl group (which is the hydrophilic ‘head’
region), a four-ring steroid structure and a short hydrocarbon side chain.

Figure 1: (a) Phosphatidylcholine, a glycerolophospholipid. (b) Glycolipid (c) A sterol.

Functions of Biological Membranes:

1. Separation and Compartmentalization:

Biological membranes act as barriers, separating the inside of cells from the outside
and creating distinct compartments within cells, like organelles.

2. Selective Permeability:

They control the movement of substances across the membrane, allowing certain
molecules to pass through while restricting others, a process known as selective
permeability or semipermeability.

3. Signal Transduction:

SAHAR NADEEM 4
 LECTURE 5

Membrane proteins act as receptors, detecting and transmitting signals from the
external environment, influencing cellular processes.

4. Transport:

Membrane proteins facilitate the transport of molecules across the membrane,

including ions, nutrients, and waste product.

5. Cell-Cell Interaction:

Membranes play a role in cell adhesion and communication, allowing cells to

interact and form tissues and organs.

6. Energy Generation:
Membranes are involved in energy production processes, such as electron transport
and oxidative phosphorylation

Membrane proteins control what enters and leaves the cell

A vital class of membrane proteins are those involved in active or passive

transport of materials across the cell membrane or other subcellular membranes
surrounding organelles. For a cell or an organism to survive, it is crucial that the
right substances enter cells (e.g. nutrients) and the right substances are transported
out of them (e.g. toxins).
Passive and active transport

Molecules can cross biological membranes in several different ways

depending on their concentration on either side of the membrane, their size and their
charge. Some molecules, including water, can simply diffuse through the membrane
without assistance. However, large molecules or charged molecules cannot cross
membranes by simple diffusion. Charged molecules such as ions can move through
SAHAR NADEEM 5
 LECTURE 5

channels passively, down electrochemical gradients. This There are two types of co-transport:
movement is described as ‘downhill’, as the ions or
1. Symport – Both molecules
molecules travel from an area of high concentration to an move in the same direction.
2. Antiport – The molecules
area of low concentration. This requires channel proteins move in opposite directions.
but no energy input. Passive transport can also be
mediated by carrier proteins that carry specific molecules
such as amino acids down concentration gradients, again
without any requirement for energy. Active transport moves species against
concentration gradients and requires energy, which is obtained from ATP, from
light, or from the downhill movement of a second type of molecule or ion within the
same transporter. For example, Sodium-glucose linked transporters (SGLTs),
sodium (Na⁺) moves down its gradient, allowing glucose to move up its gradient into
the cell.
Passive transport
Simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion and osmosis come under the umbrella of
passive transport.

1. Simple Diffusion
Transport across the plasma membrane occurs unaided in
Permeases are transport/
simple diffusion, i.e., molecules of gases such as carbon membrane proteins or carriers, that
dioxide and oxygen, as well as small molecules like ethanol, facilitate the movement of specific
molecules across cell membranes,
enter the cell by crossing the cell membrane without the allowing them to permeate the
membrane. For example: Lactose
assistance of any permease. A small molecule in an aqueous
permease (LacY) in E. coli,
solution dissolves into the phospholipid bilayer, crosses it, transports lactose into the cell.

and then dissolves into the aqueous solution on the opposite Other examples include sodium-
potassium pump, sodium- glucose
side during simple diffusion. The relative rate of molecule transport proteins, and glucose
transport channels (GLUT4)

SAHAR NADEEM 6
 LECTURE 5

diffusion across the phospholipid bilayer is proportional to the concentration

gradient across the membrane.

2. Facilitated Diffusion
This is a type of passive transport in which molecules that cross the cell
membrane move quickly due to the presence of specific permeases in the membrane.
Facilitated diffusion occurs only in the direction of a concentration gradient and does
not require metabolic energy. It is distinguished by the following characteristics:

• The rate of molecule transport across the membrane is much faster than would
be expected from simple diffusion.
• This is a specific process; each facilitated diffusion protein transports only
one type of molecule.
• There is a maximum rate of transport, which means that when the
concentration gradient of molecules across the For Your Information!
membrane is low, increasing the concentration
• When the concentration
gradient results in an increase in the rate of transport. gradient is low, transport proteins
can easily accommodate the
available molecules, so increasing
A well-known example of a transport protein used in
the concentration gradient leads to
facilitated diffusion is the glucose transporter (GLUT), an increase in the transport rate.

which facilitates the movement of glucose across cell • However, there is a maximum
membranes. rate of transport (Vmax) because
transport proteins have a limited
number of binding sites and can
3. Osmosis
only work so fast.
Water molecules can transport through the cell
• At high concentrations, all
membrane. The movement of water molecules through the
transport proteins become saturated
cell membrane is caused by differences in the (fully occupied), meaning the rate
of transport no longer increases
concentration of the solute on its two sides. Osmosis is the even if the concentration gradient
continues to rise.

SAHAR NADEEM 7
 LECTURE 5

process by which water molecules pass through a membrane from a region of higher
water concentration to a region of lower water concentration.

Key points in osmosis

• The process by which water molecules enter the cell is known as endosmosis,
whereas the process by which water molecules exit the cell is known
as exosmosis.
• Excessive exosmosis causes the cytoplasm and cell membrane in plant cells
to shrink away from the cell wall. This is known as plasmolysis. It is due to
plasmolysis that a plant loses its support and wilts.
• When two compartments of different solute concentrations are separated by a
semipermeable membrane, the compartment with higher solute concentration
is called hypertonic relative to the compartment of lower solute
concentration, which is described as hypotonic.
• If a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, it rapidly gains water by osmosis
and swells. Conversely, a cell placed into a hypertonic solution rapidly loses
water by osmosis and shrinks.
• When the internal solute concentration equals the external solute
concentration, it is said to be isotonic. Here, no net movement of water in or
out of the cells occurs.

• The amount of water contained within the cell creates a pressure termed
hydrostatic pressure (osmotic pressure). The cell membrane regulates the
osmotic pressures of intracellular and intercellular fluids.

Concluding remarks:

SAHAR NADEEM 8
 LECTURE 5

To incorporate the movement of molecules in and out of the cell, two types of
transport systems exist, namely osmosis and diffusion. These two systems are
passive transport systems as they do not require any additional energy to function.
The primary differentiating factor between the two systems is the medium in
which they are employed. Osmosis can only function in a liquid medium, but
diffusion can occur in all three mediums (solid, liquid and gas). Furthermore,
osmosis requires a semi-permeable membrane, while diffusion does not. The
intake of water in plants is an example of osmosis. Diffusion is observed when a
drop of food colouring is added to a glass of water, where eventually, the entire
water content becomes coloured.

Active Transport

Active transport is a kind of cellular transport in which substances like amino

acids, glucose and ions are transported across cell membranes to a region that already
has a high concentration of such substances. As a result, active transport employs
chemical energy like ATP to move substances against their concentration gradient.
This type of transport is commonly found in the small intestine wall and root hair
cells.
Active transport is performed by a special type of protein molecules of the
cell membrane called the transport proteins or pumps. They consume energy in the
form of ATP molecules.

1. Primary Active Transport:

Uses energy (often in the form of ATP) to move molecules against their
concentration gradient, requiring specific protein pumps.

SAHAR NADEEM 9
 LECTURE 5

Photon energy and redox energy are two sources of energy for primary active
transport. The mitochondrial electron transport chain, which uses the reduction
energy of NADH to transport protons across the inner membrane of mitochondria
against their concentration gradient, is an example of primary active transport using
redox energy. The proteins involved in photosynthesis are an example of primary
active transport using photon or light energy.

Primary active transport is demonstrated by glucose uptake in the human

intestine.

2. Secondary Active Transport

Secondary active transport allows one solute to move downward (along its
electrochemical potential gradient) in order to generate enough entropic energy to
drive the transport of the other solute upward (from a low concentration region to a
high concentration region). This is also known as coupled transport. There are two
types of coupled transport – antiport and symport. Antiport transport involves the
movement of two ion or other solute species in opposite directions across a
membrane, whereas symport transport involves the movement of two species in the
same direction.

SAHAR NADEEM 10