SIGNIFICANCE OF LIQUID IN

BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES
AND TRANSPORT MECHANISM
Saad Rafique

BS Chemistry 4B
Assignment Submitted to Sir Faiz Rasool
Lecturer Biochemistry
 Significance of Liquids in Biological membranes and transport mechanism
Biological membrane:
A biological membrane or biomembrane is an enclosing or separating membrane that acts as a
selectively permeable barrier within living things.
Biological membranes, in the form of eukaryotic cell membranes, consist of a phospholipid
bilayer with embedded, integral and peripheral proteins used in communication and
transportation of chemicals and ions.
The bulk of lipid in a cell membrane provides a fluid matrix for proteins to rotate and laterally
diffuse for physiological functioning. Proteins are adapted to high membrane fluidity
environment of lipid bilayer with the presence of an annular lipid shell, consisting of lipid
molecules bound tightly to surface of integral membrane proteins.
The cell membranes are different from the isolating tissues formed by layers of cells, such as
mucous membranes, basement membranes, and serous membranes.
Structure of Plasma Membrane:
Cell membranes are represented according to a fluid-mosaic model, due to the fact that they are:
 Fluid – the phospholipid bilayer is viscous and individual phospholipids can move
position
 Mosaic – the phospholipid bilayer is embedded with proteins, resulting in a mosaic of
components
The fluid mosaic model explains various observations regarding the structure of functional cell
membranes. According to this biological model, there is a lipid bilayer (two molecules thick
layer) in which protein molecules are embedded. The lipid bilayer gives fluidity and elasticity to
the membrane. Small amounts of carbohydrates are also found in the cell membrane.
The fluid mosaic model was first proposed by S.J. Singer and Garth L. Nicolson in 1972 to
explain the structure of the plasma membrane. The model has evolved somewhat over time, but
it still best accounts for the structure and functions of the plasma membrane as we now
understand them. The fluid mosaic model describes the structure of the plasma membrane as a
mosaic of components —including phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that
gives the membrane a fluid character.

The primary function:

The primary function of the plasma membrane is to protect the cell from its surroundings.
Composed of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins, the plasma membrane is
selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and regulates the movement of substances
in and out of cells. Plasma membranes must be very flexible in order to allow certain cells, such
as red blood cells and white blood cells, to change shape as they pass through narrow capillaries.
Discovered by:
The biological model was devised by SJ Singer and G. L. Nicolson in 1972.

Figure:

Phospholipid Molecules:
The main fabric of the membrane is composed of amphiphilic or dual-loving, phospholipid
molecules.
The hydrophilic or water-loving areas of these molecules are in contact with the aqueous fluid
both inside and outside the cell.
Hydrophobic or water-hating molecules, tend to be non- polar.
A phospholipid molecule consists of a three-carbon glycerol backbone with two fatty acid
molecules attached to carbons 1 and 2, and a phosphate-containing group attached to the third
carbon. This arrangement gives the overall molecule an area described as its head (the
phosphate-containing group), which has a polar character or negative charge, and an area called
the tail (the fatty acids), which has no charge. They interact with other non-polar molecules in
chemical reactions, but generally do not interact with polar molecules. When placed in water,
hydrophobic molecules tend to form a ball or cluster.
The hydrophilic regions of the phospholipids tend to form hydrogen bonds with water and other
polar molecules on both the exterior and interior of the cell. Thus, the membrane surfaces that
face the interior and exterior of the cell are hydrophilic. In contrast, the middle of the cell
membrane is hydrophobic and will not interact with water. Therefore, phospholipids form an
excellent lipid bilayer cell membrane that separates fluid within the cell from the fluid outside of
the cell.

Overall Key Points:

 The main fabric of the membrane is composed of amphiphilic or dual-loving,
phospholipid molecules.
 Integral proteins, the second major component of plasma membranes, are integrated
completely into the membrane structure with their hydrophobic membrane-spanning
regions interacting with the hydrophobic region of the phospholipid bilayer.
 Carbohydrates, the third major component of plasma membranes, are always found on
the exterior surface of cells where they are bound either to proteins (forming
glycoproteins ) or to lipids (forming glycolipids).
Transport Mechanism across the membrane:
Cellular membranes possess two key qualities:
 They are semi-permeable (only certain materials may freely cross – large and charged
substances are typically blocked)
  They are selective (membrane proteins may regulate the passage of material that cannot
freely cross)

Movement of materials across a biological membrane may occur either actively or passively
Selective permeability:
Plasma membranes must allow certain substances to enter and leave a cell, while preventing
harmful material from entering and essential material from leaving. In other words, plasma
membranes are selectively permeable—they allow some substances through but not others. If
they were to lose this selectivity, the cell would no longer be able to sustain itself, and it would
be destroyed.
Some cells require larger amounts of specific substances than do other cells; they must have a
way of obtaining these materials from the extracellular fluids.
Passive Transport:
Passive transport involves the movement of material along a concentration gradient (high
concentration to low concentration)
Because materials are moving down a concentration gradient, it does not require the expenditure
of energy (ATP hydrolysis)
Passive transport requires no energy input, as compounds are able to move freely across the
membrane based only on a favourable concentration gradient.
The only molecules able to diffuse easily through the lipid portions of the membrane bilayers are
lipophilic molecules (such as many drugs), or very polar molecules, such as O2, water and CO2,
which are small enough to pass through the membrane’s porous matrix.

Types of Passive Transport:

There are three main types of passive transport:
 Simple diffusion – movement of small or lipophilic molecules (e.g. O2, CO2, etc.)
 Osmosis – movement of water molecules (dependent on solute concentrations)
 Facilitated diffusion – movement of large or charged molecules via membrane proteins
(e.g. ions, sucrose, etc.)
Diffusion:
Diffusion is the movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower
concentration.
Example:
Consider substances that can easily diffuse through the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane, such
as the gases oxygen (O2) and CO2. O2 generally diffuses into cells because it is more
concentrated outside of them, and CO2 typically diffuses out of cells because it is more
concentrated inside of them. Neither of these examples requires any energy on the part of the
cell, and therefore they use passive transport to move across the membrane.
Figure:

Factors affecting diffusion:

 Extent of the concentration gradient: The greater the difference in concentration, the
more rapid the diffusion. The closer the distribution of the material gets to equilibrium,
the slower the rate of diffusion becomes.
 Mass of the molecules diffusing: More massive molecules move more slowly, because it
is more difficult for them to move between the molecules of the substance they are
moving through; therefore, they diffuse more slowly.
 Temperature: Higher temperatures increase the energy and therefore the movement of the
molecules, increasing the rate of diffusion.
 Solvent density: As the density of the solvent increases, the rate of diffusion decreases.
The molecules slow down because they have a more difficult time getting through the
denser medium.

Facilitated diffusion
It is the diffusion process used for those substances that cannot cross the lipid bilayer due
to their size, charge, and/or polarity. A common example of facilitated diffusion is the movement
of glucose into the cell, where it is used to make ATP. Although glucose can be more
concentrated outside of a cell, it cannot cross the lipid bilayer via simple diffusion because it is
both large and polar. To resolve this, a specialized carrier protein called the glucose transporter
will transfer glucose molecules into the cell to facilitate its inward diffusion.

Osmosis:
Osmosis is the movement of any solvent through a selectively permeable membrane into an area
of higher solute concentration, the result of which will be an equalizing of solute concentration
on either side of the membrane.
Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane according to the
concentration gradient of water across the membrane. Whereas diffusion transports material
across membranes and within cells, osmosis transports only water across a membrane and the
membrane limits the diffusion of solutes in the water.
Osmosis is a special case of diffusion. Water, like other substances, moves from an area of
higher concentration to one of lower concentration
Example:
Importance of osmosis for plants:
For plants, osmosis is responsible for the movement of water into the root system, which allows
the plant to grow and survive. The root hairs of plants are the key point where minerals and
water are taken into the organism. The concentration of water molecules are less in the root hairs
than in the soil (hypertonic solution), so water moves into the cells of the root hairs; osmosis
continues through numerous layers of cells (cell-to-cell movement) until that water reaches the
xylem tubes – equivalent to human veins.
Importance of osmosis for animals:
For animals (humans), some of the key osmotic functions relate to the balance of water content
in the blood versus the surrounding tissues. Similarly, in the kidneys, osmosis controls the
amount of waste buildup by increasing fluid flow into that organ. When the solute concentration
is higher in the kidney cells (hypertonic solution), water is pulled from the body’s bloodstream
into the kidneys (nephrons), which will eventually stimulate the need to urinate in a
person/animal, thus eliminating those unwanted waste products.
Active Transport:
Active transport involves the movement of materials against a concentration gradient (low
concentration to high concentration)
Because materials are moving against the gradient, it requires the expenditure of energy (e.g.
ATP hydrolysis)
There are two main types of active transport:
o Primary (direct) active transport – Involves the direct use of metabolic energy (e.g. ATP
hydrolysis) to mediate transport
o Secondary (indirect) active transport – Involves coupling the molecule with another
moving along an electrochemical gradient
Primary active transport:
It 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, an important pump in animal cells, expends energy to move
potassium ions into the cell and a different number of sodium ions out of the cell. The action of
this pump results in a concentration and charge difference across the membrane.
Endocytosis:
Endocytosis is a type of active transport that moves particles, such as large molecules, parts of
cells, and even whole cells, into a cell. There are different variations of endocytosis, but all share
a common characteristic: the plasma membrane of the cell invaginates, forming a pocket around
the target particle. The pocket pinches off, resulting in the particle being contained in a newly-
created intracellular vesicle formed from the plasma membrane.

Phagocytosis:
Taking in of solid material is called phagocytosis.
Pinocytosis:
Taking in of liquid material is called pinocytosis.
Receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME):
 It also called clathrin-mediated endocytosis, is a process by which cells absorb
metabolites, hormones, proteins – and in some cases viruses – by the inward budding of the
plasma membrane (invagination). This process forms vesicles containing the absorbed
substances and is strictly mediated by receptors on the surface of the cell. Only the receptor-
specific substances can enter the cell through this process.
Exocytosis:
Exocytosis is a form of active transport and bulk transport in which a cell transports molecules
(e.g., neurotransmitters and proteins) out of the cell (exo- + cytosis) by secreting them through an
energy-dependent process.
Exocytosis is used by all cells because most chemical substances important to them are large
polar molecules that cannot pass through the hydrophobic portion of the cell membrane by
passive means.
Exocytosis is in process a large amount of molecules are released thus making it a form of bulk
transport.
Figure: