DIFFUSION AND GATING OF

CHANNELS

A STUDENT PRESENTATION FOR PHYSIOLOGY I

PROF: MIRZA IBRIIMOVI, PHD
STUDENT: LAMIJA IKALO
SSST, 2016/17
 Objectives
1. To learn the basic principles of the most important type of passive transport-
diffusion
2. Distinguish simple and facilitated diffusion
3. Gating of channels and short review
4. Differences between channels and pumps
5. The Nernst potential
 How do cells communicate?
1. EXCHANGE BETWEEN BODY FLUIDS
a) ICF(2/3 of total body water)
b) ECF (1/3 of TBW) : Intravascular (1/4), interstitial ( 3/4) and transcellular
2%
 2. CELL SIGNALING
a) ENDOCRINE
b) PARACRINE
c) SYNAPTIC
d) CONTACT-DEPENDENT
 Transport through the cell membrane:
diffusion
DEFINITION: The passive movement of
materials down their concentration
gradient. It takes place in an open
system or across a permeable partition
Two types of proteins involved: carriers
and channels
a) simple diffusion
Only small, relativelyhydrophobic
molecules can pass through the
interstices of lipid bilayer, which is
NONSELECTIVE process
Polar, but uncharged (H2O and
ethanol) use CHANNEL PROTEINS
 Channels simply form open pores in the membrane for small molecules,
water and IONS of the appropriate size and charge.
They create a water-filled passageway connecting ECF and ICF and are
commonly found at GAP JUNCTIONS
Not to confuse with facilitated diffusion. Channels Pumps!
Can be gated and non-gated
 Gating of protein channels
DEFINITION OF A GATE: Regulated opening of the pore, controlling ion
permeability in response to a stimulus.
Ligand-gated, mechanically gated and voltage-gated
 1. LIGAND-GATED: Open in the presence of some hormonal substances, INTRA-
or extracellular
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: when acetylcholine is released from the
neuronal vesicle, it binds to the channel, the channel opens and sodium can
enter into the skeletal muscle cells.
2. MECHANOSENSITIVE: found in smooth muscles cells of blood vessels,
 2. MECHANOSENSITIVE: Found in smooth muscle cells of blood vessels (when
they stretch, Ca2+ can enter causing contraction), Panician corpuscles in
skin, hair cells in vestibular system...
 3.VOLTAGE-GATED CHANNELS: open whenever there is a change in membrane
potential
The most important are Na+, K+, and Ca2+ channels
Voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels initiate and propagate action potentials in
neurons and other excitable cells, causing depolarization of the membrane in
response to a stimulus. Both ions go down their conc. gradient
 Aquaporins
Studied and discovered by
Peter Agre in mid 80s
Agre won Nobel Prize in 2003
13 different types in human
body
Can not permit protons
Act like always-open
channels, but in plants that is
not always the case
Peter agres experiment with cells containing or lacking aquaporin, immersed
in water (hypotonic solution)
* Mercury (Hg) ions prevent cells from taking up and releasing water, just as if
there were no channels
 b) facilitated diffusion

Requires protein mediators-carriers which

make it SELECTIVE
Lipid-insoluble, polar and charged
molecules such as carbohydrates, amino
acids, nucleosides, and ions
Carriers transport sugars, amino acids, and
nucleosides across the plasma membranes
of most cells (glucose transporter). Provide
NO direct communication between ECF
and ICF
Can be co-transporters
Found in active transport
Channels vs transporters
Pumps vs channels
 Factors that affect diffusion rate
a) Direct proportionality
1. Permeability of the cell membrane
2. Temperature
3. Concentration gradient or electrical gradient of the substance across the cell
membrane
4. Solubility of the Substance
* There is only A FINITE NUMBER of channels for each substance
 b) Inverse proportionality
5. Thickness of the cell membrane
6. Size of the molecules
7. Size of the ions
8. Charge of the Ions
Nernst potential
 Nernst potential
Describes the relation of diffusion potential to the ion concentration difference
across a membrane for each individual ion
Conc. Of K+: 5 mM outside and 140 mM inside ---->The equilibrium potential EK
+
= 84 mV
Conc of Na+: 12 mM inside and 140 mM outside ---->The equilibrium potential
ENa+ +66 mV
THANKS FOR
LISTENING!