Plasma Membrane and Cell Transport

Plasma Membrane

Cell membranes are composed of two phospholipid layers. The cell membrane , or the plasma membrane, forms a boundary between a cell and the outside environment and controls the passage of materials into and out of a cell. The cell membrane consists of a double layer of phospholipids interspersed with a variety of other molecules. A phospholipid is a molecule composed of three basic parts: • a charged phosphate group • glycerol • two fatty acid chains Together, the glycerol and the phosphate group form the “head” of a phospholipid; the fatty acids form the “tail.” Because the head bears a charge, it is polar. Recall that water molecules are also polar. Therefore, the polar head of the phospholipid forms hydrogen bonds with water molecules. in contrast, the fatty acid tails are non-polar and cannot form hydrogen bonds with water. As a result, the non-polar tails are attracted to each other and repelled by water. Because the membrane touches the cytoplasm inside the cell and the watery fluid outside the cell, the properties of polar heads and non-polar tails cause the phospholipids to arrange themselves in layers, like a sandwich.The polar heads are like the bread. They form the outer surfaces of the membrane, where they interact with the watery environment both outside and inside a cell. The non-polar tails are like the filling. They are sandwiched between the layers of polar heads, where they are protected from the watery environment. Molecules are embedded within the phospholipid layers. They give the membrane properties and characteristics it would not otherwise have. These molecules serve diverse functions. Here are a few examples: • Cholesterol molecules strengthen the cell membrane. • Some proteins extend through one or both phospholipid layers and help materials cross the membrane. Other proteins are key components of the cytoskeleton. Different cell types have different membrane proteins. • Carbohydrates attached to membrane proteins serve as identification tags, enabling cells to distinguish one type of cell from another.Fluid Mosaic Model Scientists have developed the fluid mosaic model , which describes the arrangement of the molecules that make up a cell membrane. This model of cell membrane structure takes its name from two characteristics. First, the cell membrane is flexible, not rigid. The phospholipids in each layer can move from side to side and slide past each other. As a result, the membrane behaves like a fluid, similar to a film of oil on the surface of water. However, proteins embedded in the membrane do not flip vertically. If one part of a protein is outside the membrane, it will stay outside the membrane. Second, the variety of molecules studding the membrane is similar to the arrangement of colorful tiles with different textures and patterns that make up a mosaic.Selective Permeability The cell membrane has the property of selective permeability , which means it allows some, but not all, materials to cross. The terms semipermeable and selectively permeable also refer to this property. As an example, outdoor clothing is often made of semipermeable fabric. The material is waterproof yet breathable. Molecules of water vapor from sweat are small enough to exit the fabric, but water droplets are too large to enter. Selective permeability enables a cell to maintain homeostasis in spite of unpredictable, changing conditions outside the cell. Because a cell needs to maintain certain conditions to carry out its functions, it must control the import and export of certain molecules and ions. Thus, even if ion concentrations change drastically outside a cell, these ions won’t necessarily interfere with vital chemical reactions inside a cell. Molecules cross the membrane in several ways. Some of these methods require the cell to expend energy; others do not. How a particular molecule crosses the membrane depends on the molecule’s size, polarity, and concentration inside versus outside the cell. In general, small non-polar molecules easily pass through the cell membrane, small polar molecules are transported via proteins, and large molecules are moved in vesicles.Chemical signals are transmitted across the cell membrane. Recall that cell membranes may secrete molecules and may contain identifying molecules, such as carbohydrates. All these molecules can act as signals to communicate with other cells. How are these signals recognized? A receptor is a protein that detects a signal molecule and performs an action in response. It recognizes and binds to only certain molecules, ensuring that the right cell gets the right signal at the right time. The molecule a receptor binds to is called a ligand. When a receptor and a ligand bind, they change shape. This change is critical because it affects how a receptor interacts with other molecules. Two major types of receptors are present in your cells. Intracellular Receptor A molecule may cross the cell membrane and bind to an intracellular receptor. The word intracellular means “within, or inside, a cell.” Molecules that cross the membrane are generally non-polar and may be relatively small. Many hormones fit within this category. For example, aldosterone can cross most cell membranes. However, it produces an effect only in cells that have the right type of receptor, such as kidney cells. When aldosterone enters a kidney cell, it binds to an intracellular receptor. The receptor-ligand complex enters the nucleus, interacts with the DNA, and turns on certain genes. As a result, specific proteins are made that help the kidneys absorb sodium ions and retain water, both of which are important for maintaining normal blood pressure. Membrane Receptor A molecule that cannot cross the membrane may bind to a receptor in the cell membrane.The receptor then sends the message to the cell interior. Although the receptor binds to a signal molecule outside the cell, the entire receptor changes shape—even the part inside the cell. As a result, it causes molecules inside the cell to respond. These molecules, in turn, start a complicated chain of events inside the cell that tells the cell what to do. For instance, band 3 protein is a membrane receptor in red blood cells. When activated, it triggers processes that carry carbon dioxide from body tissues to the lungs.

Diffusion and Osmosis

Diffusion and osmosis are types of passive transport. Cells almost continually import and export substances. If they had to expend energy to move every molecule, cells would require an enormous amount of energy to stay alive. Fortunately, some molecules enter and exit a cell without requiring the cell to work. Passive transport is the movement of molecules across a cell membrane without energy input from the cell. It may also be described as the diffusion of molecules across a membrane. Diffusion Diffusion is the movement of molecules in a fluid or gas from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. It results from the natural motion of particles, which causes molecules to collide and scatter. Concentration is the number of molecules of a substance in a given volume, and it can vary from one region to another. A concentration gradient is the difference in the concentration of a substance from one location to another. Molecules diffuse down their concentration gradient—that is, from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. In the tie-dye example, dye molecules are initially at a high concentration in the area where they are added to the water. Random movements of the dye and water molecules cause them to bump into each other and mix. Thus, the dye molecules move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. Eventually, they are evenly spread throughout the solution. This means the molecules have reached a dynamic equilibrium. The concentration of dye molecules is the same throughout the solution (equilibrium), but the molecules continue to move (dynamic). In cells, diffusion plays an important role in moving substances across the membrane. Small lipids and other non-polar molecules, such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, easily diffuse across the membrane. For example, most of your cells continually consume oxygen, which means that the oxygen concentration is almost always higher outside a cell than it is inside a cell. As a result, oxygen generally diffuses into a cell without the cell’s expending any energy. Osmosis Water molecules, of course, also diffuse. They move across a semipermeable membrane from an area of higher water concentration to an area of lower water concentration. This process is called osmosis. It is important to recognize that the higher the concentration of dissolved particles in a solution, the lower the concentration of water molecules in the same solution. So, if you put 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup of water and 10 teaspoons of salt in a different cup of water, the first cup would have the higher water concentration. A solution may be described as isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic relative to another solution. Note that these terms are comparisons; they require a point of reference, as shown in FIGURE 4.3. For example, you may be taller than your coach or taller than you were two years ago, but you are never just taller. Likewise, a solution may be described as isotonic only in comparison with another solution. To describe it as isotonic by itself would be meaningless.A solution is isotonic to a cell if it has the same concentration of dis- 1 solved particles as the cell. Water molecules move into and out of the cell at an equal rate, so the cell’s size remains constant. 2 A hypertonic solution has a higher concentration of dissolved particles than a cell. This means water concentration is higher inside the cell than outside. Thus, water flows out of the cell, causing it to shrivel or even die.A hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of dissolved particles than a cell. This means water molecules are more concentrated outside the cell than inside. Water diffuses into the cell . If too much water enters a cell, the cell membrane could potentially expand until it bursts. Some animals and single-celled organisms can survive in hypotonic environments. Their cells have adaptations for removing excess water. In plants, the rigid cell wall prevents the membrane from expanding too much. Remember from Section 2 that pressure exerted on the cell wall by fluid inside the central vacuole provides structural support for each cell and for the plant as a whole.Some molecules diffuse through transport proteins. Some molecules cannot easily diffuse across a membrane. They may cross more easily through transport protein openings formed by proteins that pierce the cell membrane. Facilitated diffusion is the diffusion of molecules across a membrane through transport proteins. The word facilitate means “to make easier.” Transport proteins make it easier for molecules to enter or exit a cell. But the process is still a form of passive transport. The molecules move down a concentration gradient, requiring no energy expenditure by the cell. There are many types of transport proteins. Most types allow only certain ions or molecules to pass. Some transport proteins are simple channels, or tunnels, through which particles such as ions can pass. Others act more like enzymes. When bound, the protein changes shape, allowing the molecule to travel the rest of the way into the cell.

Active Transport, Endocytosis, and Exocytosis

Proteins can transport materials against a concentration gradient. You just learned that some transport proteins let materials diffuse into and out of a cell down a concentration gradient. Many other transport proteins, often called pumps, move materials against a concentration gradient. Active transport drives molecules across a membrane from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration. This process uses transport proteins powered by chemical energy. Cells use active transport to get needed molecules regardless of the concentration gradient and to maintain homeostasis. Before we discuss active transport proteins, let’s look at transport proteins in general. All transport proteins span the membrane, and most change shape when they bind to a target molecule or molecules. Some transport proteins bind to only one type of molecule. Others bind to two different types. Some proteins that bind to two types of molecules move both types in the same direction. Others move the molecules in opposite directions.The key feature of active transport proteins is that they can use chemical energy to move a substance against its concentration gradient. Most use energy from a molecule called ATP, either directly or indirectly. For example, nerve cells, or neurons, need to have a higher concentration of potassium ions and a lower concentration of sodium ions than the fluid outside the cell. The sodium-potassium pump uses energy directly from the breakdown of ATP. It pumps three sodium ions out of the cell for every two potassium ions it pumps in. The proton pump, another transport protein, uses energy from the breakdown of ATP to move hydrogen ions (or protons) out of the cell. This action forms a concentration gradient of hydrogen ions (H + ), which makes the fluid outside the cell more positively charged than the fluid inside. In fact, this gradient is a form of stored energy that is used to power other active transport proteins. In plant cells, this gradient causes yet another protein to transport sucrose into the cell—an example of indirect active transport.Endocytosis and exocytosis transport materials across the membrane in vesicles. A cell may also use energy to move a large substance or a large amount of a substance in vesicles. Transport in vesicles lets substances enter or exit a cell without crossing through the membrane. Endocytosis Endocytosis is the process of taking liquids or fairly large molecules into a cell by engulfing them in a membrane. In this process, the cell membrane makes a pocket around a substance. The pocket breaks off inside the cell and forms a vesicle, which then fuses with a lysosome or a similar type of vesicle. Lysosomal enzymes break down the vesicle membrane and its contents (if necessary), which are then released into the cell.The key feature of active transport proteins is that they can use chemical energy to move a substance against its concentration gradient. Most use energy from a molecule called ATP, either directly or indirectly. For example, nerve cells, or neurons, need to have a higher concentration of potassium ions and a lower concentration of sodium ions than the fluid outside the cell. The sodium-potassium pump uses energy directly from the breakdown of ATP. It pumps three sodium ions out of the cell for every two potassium ions it pumps in. The proton pump, another transport protein, uses energy from the breakdown of ATP to move hydrogen ions (or protons) out of the cell. This action forms a concentration gradient of hydrogen ions (H + ), which makes the fluid outside the cell more positively charged than the fluid inside. In fact, this gradient is a form of stored energy that is used to power other active transport proteins. In plant cells, this gradient causes yet another protein to transport sucrose into the cell—an example of indirect active transport. Synthesize In what ways are active transport proteins similar to enzymes? Endocytosis and exocytosis transport materials 4B across the membrane in vesicles. A cell may also use energy to move a large substance or a large amount of a substance in vesicles. Transport in vesicles lets substances enter or exit a cell without crossing through the membrane.Phagocytosis is a type of endocytosis in which the cell membrane engulfs large particles. The word literally means “cell eating.” Phagocytosis plays a key role in your immune system. Some white blood cells called macrophages help your body fight infection. They find foreign materials, such as bacteria, and engulf and destroy them.Exocytosis Exocytosis , the opposite of endocytosis, is the release of substances out of a cell by the fusion of a vesicle with the membrane. During this process, a vesicle forms around materials to be sent out of the cell. The vesicle then moves toward the cell’s surface, where it fuses with the membrane and releases its contents.Exocytosis happens all the time in your body. In fact, you couldn’t think or move a muscle without it. When you want to move your big toe, for example, your brain sends a message that travels through a series of nerve cells to reach your toe. This message, or nerve impulse, travels along each nerve cell as an electrical signal, but it must be converted to a chemical signal to cross the tiny gap that separates one nerve cell from the next. These chemicals are stored in vesicles within the nerve cells. When a nerve impulse reaches the end of a cell, it causes the vesicles to fuse with the cell membrane and release the chemicals outside the cell. There they attach to the next nerve cell, which triggers a new electrical impulse in that cell.