CELLS &

MICROORGANISMS
CHAPTER 2.4: THE CELL MEMBRANE
CELL REQUIREMENTS
 As you learned in Chapter 2.3 and 2.5, there are 2 major groups of organisms - autotrophs and
heterotrophs.
 In addition to light, photo-autotrophs also need carbon dioxide and water for photosynthesis to
produce organic molecules. Plants also require a range of inorganic nutrients to supply a source of
elements including nitrogen, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, cobalt and many others in minute
quantities (trace elements).
 The cells of heterotrophs cannot convert inorganic material into organic molecules. Therefore a
range of elements need to be provided by the organic molecules in the food the organism
consumes. A typical diet of a heterotroph will contain proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and
nucleic acids as well as water, mineral nutrients (e.g. calcium and magnesium ions) and
vitamins (e.g. vitamin C).
WASTE REMOVAL
 Most metabolic reactions in cells produce waste products and if these accumulate, they will
generally be toxic to cells and organisms.
 Carbon dioxide is a waste product produced by aerobic respiration. In animals, it is
transported out of cells and then moves in the bloodstream, to be excreted by the lungs. In plants
carbon dioxide can be used in photosynthesis, but if the rate of aerobic respiration is greater than
the rate of photosynthesis (i.e. at night) then carbon dioxide will be excreted from the leaves.
 Urea is another metabolic waste in animals and is produced by a biochemical process called
deamination that occurs in liver cells. Urea moves out of liver cells into the bloodstream where
it is transported to the kidneys to be excreted in urine.
 There are numerous waste products produced by both plant and animal cells that need to be
excreted to ensure the composition and conditions within cells are maintained relatively
constant. This is important because it permits the metabolic processes to occur efficiently
without disruption.
INPUTS AND OUTPUTS OF AUTOTROPH
 INPUT OF MATTER

 OUTPUT OF MATTER
INPUTS AND OUTPUTS OF
HETEROTOTROPHINPUT OF MATTER


 OUTPUT OF MATTER
STRUCTURE OF THE CELL
MEMBRANE
The cell membrane is vital in controlling the exchange of
materials between the internal and external environment
of the cell.
 The cell membrane mostly consists of two kinds of
molecules – phospholipids & other lipids such as
cholesterol and membrane proteins.
 The structure of the cell membrane includes:
1. A bilayer of phospholipids with embedded membrane
proteins.
2. Hydrophilic phospholipid ’heads’ positioned towards
water at the edges of the bilayer.
3. Hydrophobic phospholipid ‘tails’ positioned away from
water towards the centre of the bilayer.
4. Proteins that span the width of the membrane are
integral proteins or sit in one of the bilayers
(peripheral proteins).
5. Glycoproteins: membrane proteins with carbohydrates
attached.
STRUCTURE OF THE CELL
MEMBRANE
 The membrane is a phospholipid bilayer with non-polar tails facing inwards (hydrophobic).
 The polar phosphate heads (hydrophilic) face outwards as well as on the inside surface of the
membrane.
 As a result of this bilayer, the membrane is semi-permeable i.e. it will allow the passage of some
molecules freely but not others.
 There are 2 types of integral proteins embedded in the bilayer which will assist in moving
molecules. These are channel proteins and carrier proteins.
 The bilayer has fluid-like properties. This permits it to break and reform as well as enclose
materials e.g. proteins in vacuoles (or vesicles) for bulk transport.
FLUID MOSAIC MODEL
 Fluid: Because individual phospholipids and proteins can move within the bilayer, like liquid.
 Mosaic: Because of the pattern produced by the scattered protein molecules when the membrane
is viewed from above.
CONTROLLED EXCHANGE OF MATERIALS
 Cells must exchange materials with their external environment. E.g. glucose and oxygen are obtained
from the external environment and carbon dioxide is released into the external environment.
 Materials exchanged across the cell membrane include:
1. Gases
2. Nutrients
3. Waste products

 The cell membrane permits the exchange of materials between the cell’s internal environment (its
cytoplasm) and the external environment. It does this because cells need the correct pH, glucose
concentrations and the correct water and solute balance to ensure that cell reactions can occur. Waste
levels like carbon dioxide and urea need to be kept low inside the cell.
CONTROLLED EXCHANGE OF MATERIALS

 Cell membranes are semi-permeable; they only allow certain substances to pass
across it.
 Factors that influence whether a substance will pass across includes
1. Size: Only very small molecules are freely exchanged (e.g. O2 and CO2. Larger
molecules (e.g. proteins) cannot pass freely.
2. Charge-ions: molecules with a charge can only be exchanged if specific
membrane proteins called membrane transport proteins are used.
3. Solubility in water: water and hydrophilic molecules can only be exchanged if
specific membrane transport proteins are used.
 STRUCTURE OF THE CELL MEMBRANE

 Figure 241 represents a summary of the

relative membrane permeability of many
of the important substances that need to
move across the cell membrane.
 This will provide a useful reference about
the different types of ways in which
molecules move across membranes.
 This Figure also explains how the physical
and chemical nature of substances
influences the movement of them.
PASSIVE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE CELL MEMBRANE

 According to the kinetic model of matter, atoms and

molecules are in a state of constant, random motion.
1. Diffusion
 Diffusion occurs in both liquids & gases. It involves
small, uncharged molecules (e.g. oxygen & carbon
dioxide) that diffuse between the phospholipids.
 The passive transport of a substance from a region of
high concentration to a region of low concentration
until a dynamic equilibrium is reached. The
difference in concentration is referred to as a
concentration gradient.
Figure 242b shows a net movement of molecules from high
concentration to low concentration. The molecules are evenly  The steeper the gradient, the greater the rate of
distributed (uniform) on both sides of the membrane. Figure 242c diffusion.
shows that although there is no net movement of molecules, the
molecules are in a state of constant random motion and can cross  Diffusion is a passive process (does not require
from one side to the other. energy).
PASSIVE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE CELL
MEMBRANE
 Figure 243 illustrates the simple transport of materials across the phospholipid bilayer by diffusion. This could
be a typical animal cell membrane with oxygen diffusing into the cell and carbon dioxide diffusing out.
 PASSIVE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE
CELL MEMBRANE
 The properties of the cell membrane make it difficult for the molecules of many
substances to diffuse across it.
 The presence of integral proteins (channel protein and carrier proteins) can
assist here.
 Facilitated diffusion involves the transport of a substance through a channel
protein or a carrier protein from a high concentration to a low concentration
 An input of energy is not required.
 In facilitated diffusion, substances that cross the membrane usually involves
hydrophilic molecules (e.g. glucose and certain drugs) and ions (e.g. sodium and
potassium ions).
PASSIVE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE
CELL MEMBRANE
 Figure 244(a) represents a channel protein which provides a pore or channel for those molecules
that are unable to freely diffuse across the cell membrane.
 Figure 244(b) represents a carrier protein. These carrier proteins selectively bind to a specific
molecule in the cell or extracellular environment. The shape or position of the carrier protein
undergoes a conformational change that causes substrate to be released to the opposite side of the
membrane.
PASSIVE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE CELL
MEMBRANE
2. Osmosis

 The net movement of water from a region of low solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration across
a selectively permeable membrane. The process is passive and results in an equal solute concentration on either side of
the membrane.
 Proteins called aquaporins facilitate osmosis because the hydrophobic tails in the phospholipid bilayer are not attracted
to water.
 Osmosis will have a greater impact on animal cells which may burst, as they lack the cell wall of a plant cell which makes
them more rigid. The pressure causing the water to move in the direction it does is called osmotic pressure.
TONICITY
 The ability of an extracellular solution to make water diffuse in or out of a cell by
osmosis is known as tonicity.
 There are three types of tonicity: isotonic, hypertonic and hopotonic
TONICITY
SUMMARY OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF
PASSIVE TRANSPORT
 ACTIVE TRANSPORT
 Active transport is the movement of substances from a region of low concentration to
a region of high concentration.
 Requires the expenditure of energy (Adenosine triphosphate; ATP). The energy is used
to change the shape of the carrier protein which causes the molecule to be pumped out
of the cell against the concentration gradient.
 Involves the use of membrane proteins called carrier proteins.
 Ions are continuously exchanged across membranes by active transport (e.g. sodium
and potassium ions). This process is involved in the movement of sodium and
potassium ions in the generation and transmission of nerve impulses through nerve
impulses through nerve cells in animals called neurons.
 Another example is seen in the same intestine of humans where glucose may first move
into the blood through diffusion (through villi) but when the concentration is lower in
the small intestine, compared to the cells that absorb glucose, active transport is used.
ENDOCYTOSIS AND EXOCYTOSIS

 Larger molecules (e.g. proteins,

polysaccharides and nucleic acids) or tiny solid
particles or liquid droplets enters the cell by a
process called endocytosis and leaves a cell by a
process called exocytosis.
 Requires an expenditure of energy because the
cell membrane needs to move.
ENDOCYTOSIS
 Large substances are taken into the cell by endocytosis.
 Endocytosis of solids = phagocytosis (e.g. white blood cell which engulfs
foreign materials such as bacteria; cell taking in food particles). Also known
as ‘cell eating’.
 Endocytosis of liquids = pinocytosis (involves cells that ‘gulp’ in small
droplets of solution. Also known as ’cell drinking’.
 Both of these processes involve a change in the shape of the membrane to
form a vesicle.
 A section of the membrane forms a small depression that encloses the
molecules that are to move into the cell (invagination).
 The cell membrane fuses and the vesicle is pinched off and moved by the
cytoskeleton into the cell (Figure 248).
 An example of endocytosis includes white blood cells, called phagocytes,
engulfing a bacterium to destroy it.
EXOCYTOSIS
 Exocytosis is the process in which large substances are transported out of the cell.
 Packaging and secretion of substances by the golgi apparatus in cells. Molecules are packaged inside vesicles which are then
transported to the cell membrane by the cytoskeleton. These fuse with the cell membrane which then opens to release the molecules
outside the cell.
 Substances secreted include: hormones made inside cells that are secreted into the bloodstream (e.g. cells in the pancreas that secrete
insulin), extracellular enzymes and materials that are used to make cell walls in plants.
THE RATE OF EXCHANGE OF
MATERIALS AT THE CELL MEMBRANE

 How quickly materials are exchanged across the cell membrane depends of the following factors:
1. Surface area to volume ratio
2. Concentration gradient of solute
3. Nature of material being exchanged (e.g. its size, charge and solubility in water)
4. Temperature
 SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO
 Surface area to volume ratio (SA:Vol) helps to
explain the efficiency of the exchange of materials
across the cell membrane.
 SA:Vol is a numerical value that represents the
relationship between the amount of external surface
area of the cell membrane and the volume of the
cytoplasm.
 The smaller the cells the larger the surface area to
volume ratio.
 The shape of a cell also affects the SA:Vol. Cells that
are long, thin or flat tend to have more cell membrane
area relative to the volume of the cytoplasm.
 Cells with a larger SA:Vol are able to obtain
nutrients and dispose of their waste more efficiently.
 Most cells are microscopic so as to maximise the
SA:Vol ratio.
 CONCENTRATION GRADIENT
 The difference in concentration on either side of the cell membrane is termed a concentration gradient.
The greater the concentration gradient, the more rapid the rate of diffusion.
 Simple diffusion is a linear relationship; the higher the concentration gradient, the faster the rate of
diffusion.
 With facilitated diffusion at high concentrations, the rate of diffusion tends to reach a maximum beyond
which no further increases in rate occurs. This is referred to as a plateau.
CONCENTRATION GRADIENT

 The plateau is due to the channel or carrier

proteins being fully occupied (saturated)
and thus unable to increase the rate of
diffusion further.
 Organisms have developed structures and
processes to help maximise concentration
gradients across cell membranes and
exchange surfaces and thus maximise the rate
of exchange of materials. An example of this
is increasing the rate of blood flow through
capillaries in the lungs to maximise
diffusion of oxygen from alveoli into the
blood.
NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCES BEING EXCHANGED
 Both the physical (in particular, size) and the chemical nature of molecules influences their ability to
move across the cell membrane and the manner in which they do so.
 The 2 characteristics of the cell membrane that are largely responsible for the selective nature of the
exchange are the lipid nature of the membrane and the two types of transport proteins embedded in it.
• Small uncharged molecules will generally move more easily across the cell-membrane by diffusion,
while larger molecules, like proteins or nucleic acids, are transported by processes such as endocytosis
or exocytosis.
• Molecules that dissolve in lipids are generally able to move through the cell membrane by diffusion.
• Most water-soluble (or polar) molecules have difficulty moving through the cell membrane and will
need to go through by facilitated diffusion (e.g. glucose, amino acids).
NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCES BEING
EXCHANGED
• Ions (e.g. sodium and potassium ions) will not move easily and will require a type of transport
protein associated with facilitated diffusion.
• Water moves slowly through the phospholipid bilayer but more rapidly through specific aquaporins.
• Some molecules bind selectively with carrier proteins and these actively pump them across the cell
membrane.
KEY CONCEPTS
The composition and internal environment of the cell needs to be maintained within certain limits and wastes need to
be excreted.

Substances move across the cell membranes by passive (no input of energy) or active (energy required) processes.

Passive processes are diffusion, facilitated diffusion and osmosis.

Active processes are active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis.

The cell membrane is a phospholipid bilayer with hydrophobic tails pointing inwards and phosphate heads pointing
outwards. As such, lipid substances tend to move through the membrane by diffusion.
 KEY CONCEPTS
Polar (or water soluble) molecules and charged ions have difficulty moving through the cell membrane and usually move through the
transport proteins by facilitated diffusion.

There are two types of transport proteins in the membrane: channel and carrier proteins.

(a) Channel proteins permit facilitated diffusion

(b) When carrier molecules are provided with an input of energy (from ATP), the energy is used to move molecules by active
transport from a low concentration to a high concentration.

As the size of a cell increases, its surface area to volume ratio (SA:Vol) decreases and, therefore, so does its efficiency in exchanging
materials with the environment.

The greater the concentration gradient, the faster diffusion can occur.