Diocese of Baguio – Schools

San Jose School of La Trinidad, Inc.

High School Department
Poblacion, La Trinidad, 2601 Benguet, Philippines
E-mail: [email protected] Phone No. 0948-538-2132
Christian Character; Excellence; Servant Leadership; Stewardship

GENERAL BIOLOGY 1: FINALS

ACTIVITY 2: Transport mechanism in the cell
Learning competency Pre-requisite knowledge
❖ Explain transport mechanisms in cells (diffusion • Cell and cell organelles (Grade 7)
osmosis, facilitated transport, active transport)
❖ Differentiate exocytosis and endocytosis.
Expected Output: Answer the guide questions

General instructions:
1. This will be a group activity, participate and cooperate with your group mates.
2. It will be a library work, or you may do it inside the classroom if you have mobile data.
3. You may use your cellular phones, but make sure to use it properly, be responsible.

Introduction:
If a cell were a house, the plasma membrane would be walls with windows and doors. Moving things in
and out of the cell is an important role of the plasma membrane. It controls everything that enters and leaves the
cell. There are two basic ways that substances can cross the plasma membrane: passive transport, which requires
no energy; and active transport, which requires energy.

Discussion:

Transport Without Energy

Passive transport occurs when substances cross the plasma membrane without any input of energy from
the cell. No energy is needed because the substances are moving from an area where they have a higher
concentration to an area where they have a lower concentration. Water solutions are very important in biology.
When water is mixed with other molecules this mixture is called a solution. Water is the solvent, and the
dissolved substance is the solute.
A solution is characterized by the solute. For example, water and sugar would be characterized as a sugar
solution. More the particles of a solute in a given volume, the higher the concentration. The particles of solute
always move from an area where it is more concentrated to an area where it is less concentrated. It’s a little like
a ball rolling down a hill. It goes by itself without any input of extra energy.

Simple Diffusion

Diffusion Although you may not know what diffusion is,

you have experienced the process. Can you remember walking into
the front door of your home and smelling a pleasant aroma coming
from the kitchen? It was the diffusion of particles from the kitchen
to the front door of the house that allowed you to detect the odors.
Diffusion is defined as the net movement of particles from an area
of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration.
Figure 1. Simple diffusion shows as a timeline with the outside of the cell
(extracellular space) separated from the inside of the cell (intracellular space)
by the cell membrane. In the beginning of the timeline there are many
molecules outside of the cell and none inside. Over time, they diffuse into the
cell until there is an equal amount outside and inside.

Osmosis
Osmosis is a specific type of diffusion; it is the passage of water from a region of high-water
concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. Water
moves in or out of a cell until its concentration is the same on both sides of the plasma membrane.
 Semi-permeable membranes are very thin layers of material that allow some things to pass through them
but prevent other things from passing through. Cell membranes are an example of semi-permeable
membranes. Cell membranes allow small molecules such as oxygen, water carbon dioxide, and oxygen to
pass through but do not allow larger molecules like glucose, sucrose, proteins, and starch to enter the cell
directly.
  The concentration of solute in the solution can be greater than the concentration of solute in the cells. This
cell is described as in a hypertonic solution (hyper = greater than normal). The net flow or water will be
out of the cell.
 The concentration of solute in the solution can be equal to the concentration of solute in cells. In this
situation, the cell is in an isotonic solution (iso = equal or the same as normal). The amount of water
entering the cell is the same as the amount leaving the cell.
 The concentration of solute in the solution can be less than the concentration of solute in the cells. This
cell is in a hypotonic solution (hypo = less than normal). The net flow of water will be into the cell.

Facilitated Diffusion
Water and many other substances cannot simply
diffuse across a membrane. Hydrophilic molecules, charged
ions, and relatively large molecules such as glucose all need
help with diffusion. The help comes from special proteins in
the membrane known as transport proteins. Diffusion with
the help of transport proteins is called facilitated diffusion.
There are several types of transport proteins, including
channel proteins and carrier proteins.

Figure 2. Facilitated Diffusion Across a Cell Membrane. Channel proteins and carrier proteins help
substances diffuse across a cell membrane. In this diagram, the channel and carrier proteins are helping
substances move into the cell (from the extracellular space to the intracellular space). The channel protein has
an opening that allows the substances to cross. In a carrier protein, the substance binds to the protein, which
then causes the protein to changes shape, thereby releasing the substance into the cell.
Active Transport
Some substances require energy to cross a plasma membrane often because they are moving from an area
of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration. This type of transport is called active transport. The
energy for active transport comes from the energy-carrying molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Active transport may also require transport proteins, such as carrier proteins, which are embedded in the plasma
membrane. Two types of active transport are pump and vesicle transport.
Two pump mechanisms (primary and secondary active transports).
The primary active transport moves ions across a membrane and creates a difference in charge across
that membrane. The primary active transport system uses ATP to move a substance, such as an ion, into the cell,
and often at the same time, a second substance is moved out of the cell. The sodium-potassium pump is a
mechanism of active transport that moves sodium ions out of the cell and potassium ions into the cells.
The secondary active transport describes the movement of material using the energy of the
electrochemical gradient established by the primary active transport. Using the energy of the electrochemical
gradient created by the primary active transport system, other substances such as amino acids and glucose can be
brought into the cell through membrane channels

Vesicle Transport/Bulk transport

Some molecules, such as proteins, are too large to pass through the plasma membrane, regardless of their
concentration inside and outside the cell. Very large molecules cross the plasma membrane with a different sort
of help, called vesicle transport. Vesicle transport requires energy, so it is also a form of active transport. There
are two types of vesicle transport: endocytosis and exocytosis.

❖ Endocytosis
Endocytosis is a type of vesicle transport that
moves a substance into the cell. The plasma membrane
completely engulfs the substance, a vesicle pinches off
from the membrane, and the vesicle carries the
substance into the cell.
It is used by all cells of the body because most
substances important to them are polar and consist of big
molecules, and thus cannot pass through the
hydrophobic plasma membrane.

Figure 3. (On the right) Phagocytosis is when the plasma

membrane wraps around a solid particle outside the cell
using projections called pseudopodia. The membrane then
pinches off to form a phagosome (food vacuole).
(Middle)Pinocytosis is when the membrane folds to form a vesicle that carries substances dissolved in the extracellular
fluid. (On the left) Receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs when the receptors on the plasma membrane bind to specific
particles. The coated pit region of the membrane forms a coated vesicle containing the receptors with their bound
particles.

❖ Exocytosis
Exocytosis is a type of vesicle transport that moves a substance out
of the cell. A vesicle containing the substance moves through the
cytoplasm to the cell membrane. Then, the vesicle membrane fuses
with the cell membrane, and the substance is released outside the cell.

Figure 4. Exocytosis is much like endocytosis in reverse. Material

destined for export is packaged into a vesicle inside the cell. The
membrane of the vesicle fuses with the cell membrane, and the contents
are released into the extracellular space.

Homeostasis and Cell Function

The process of maintaining stable conditions inside a cell (or an entire organism) is homeostasis.
Homeostasis requires constant adjustments because conditions are always changing both inside and outside the
cell. The processes described in this, and previous lessons play important roles in homeostasis. By moving
substances into and out of cells, they keep conditions within normal ranges inside the cells and the organism.