Transport Mechanism
Solutes – diffusion or active transport (atoms, ions, molecules)
Water – osmosis
Symplastic transport – movement through the interior of cells;
within the cytoplasm
- Plasmodesmata: symplast of cell
Diffusion (passive diffusion) – net passive movement of
particles from a higher to lower solute concentration.
- Continues until the concentration is uniform
throughout (equilibrium)
- Happens without both energy and carrier.
High diffusion rate (speed) – short distance, large surface
area*, big concentration difference**
*small things have larger surface area (contact exposure
of a substance)
** concentration/electrochemical gradient: ⬆ gap, ⬆
diffusion; difference in concentration (results to voltage)
Fick’s law – ⬆ temperature*, ⬆ diffusion; ⬆molecules**, ⬇
diffusion.
- The rate of diffusion depends on the concentration
gradient & *diffusion constant
**small surface area
 H+ is being pumped out (active transport) by proton
pump so that ATP can enter (with H+); in plants,
fungi, and bacteria, proton pump transport positive
charge from inside to outside/cytoplasm to
extracellular solution (generating voltage; so energy is
stored by electrogenic pumps for cellular work).
 In a cell at rest, the cell is negative (inside). To
rehydrate, cation is needed so that sugar can enter
e.g.: gas exchange for photosynthesis
Facilitated diffusion – diffusion via specific carrier protein
but with no energy used; only allows 1 molecule/grp. to
pass through (selected by size, shape, and charge)
- Uses aquaporins, ion channels & carrier proteins.
e.g.: glucose and amino acids
Osmosis – diffusion of H2O through semi-permeable*
membrane from more dilute to more concentrated sol’n
- Down to a water potential gradient
- Passive; no energy is used
*barrier that permits some & not permits some
e.g.: absorption of water by plant roots
Tonicity – property based in osmosis; ability of a sol’n to cause
a cell to gain or lose H2O; depends on conc. of solute that
can’t cross the membrane (nonpenetrating solutes), relative
to that inside of cell.
Isotonic (animal cell) – there is a flow but the rate is the same
(no net movement) across the plasma membrane.
Hypertonic – shrinking (crenation) of cell because of large # of
solute outside thus the H2O will go out.
 - Increase in salinity of a lake thus killing the animals
(animal cell shrivels* and dies)
*plasmolysis (plasma membrane pulls away from cell
wall)
Hypotonic – H2O will enter fastly in the cell (inwards) because
of less solute outside the cell; the cell will swell and lyse
(burst)
- Cell will store the H2O in vacuole
Active transport – uses both energy (ATP) and transport or
carrier protein.
- Enables a cell to maintain internal concentration of
small solutes differing in concentration from
environment.
- ⬆ to ⬇ concentration (against concentration gradient)
Bulk transport – large molecules (proteins & polysaccharides)
cross the membrane in bulk by mechanisms that involve
packaging in vesicles; requires E
Exocytosis – going outside or exit; cell secretes molecules by
the fusion of vesicles with plasma membrane. The contents of
vesicle then spill to the outside of cell and the vesicle
membrane becomes part of the plasma membrane.
- Golgi apparatus packages something through vesicle
> microtubules push the vesicle to the plasma
membrane > vesicle & plasma membrane dissolves
each other > the unwanted particle is ejected
Endocytosis – entering; cell takes in biological molecules by
forming new vesicles from cell membrane; as the pocked
deepens, it pinches in, forming a vesicle containing material
that had been outside the cell.
- Phagocytosis (solids) – cell eating; cell engulfs a
particle by wrapping pseudopodia around it and
packaging it within a membrane enclosed sac (large
enough to call vacuole). The particle is digested after
the vacuole fuses with a lysosome containing
hydrolytic enzymes.
- Pinocytosis (liquid) – cell drinking; cell plasma gulps
droplets of membrane extracellular fluid into tiny
vesicles. It is not the fluid itself that is needed by the
cell, but the molecules dissolved in droplets. Because
any and all included solutes are taken into cell,
pinocystosis is nonspecific in the substances it
transports.
- Receptor-mediated endocytosis – enables the cell to
acquire bulk quantities of specific substances, even
though those substances may not be very
concentrated in the extracellular fluid (for drugs).
 Receptor – binds with ligands (substance)
 Coated pits – region in cell membrane
where receptor proteins are usually
clustered; lined on cytoplasmic side by
fuzzy layer of coat proteins; in binding, it
forms a vesicle containing the ligand
molecules.
Drug adulteration – debasement (reducing the standard
quality) of any article which involves a number of different
conditions.
1. Inferiority – substandard drug; amount is lower than
what is claimed.
 e.g.: Strychnosnux vomica seeds must contain 1.15%
or more of strychnine (USP/NF)
2. Deterioration – any impairment of quality by
abstraction/destruction of valuable constituents by
distillation, extraction, moisture, aging, and heat.
e.g.: volatile oils – heat labile (perfume)
3. Spoilage – a form of substandard drug in which the
quality has been so impaired by the action of
microorganisms so as to render the article unfit for
human consumption.
e.g.: coconut oil – spoilage due to rancidity
4. Admixture – addition of one article to another thru
accident; ignorance/carelessness
5. Sophistication – intentionally done
6. Substitution – occurs an entirely different article is
used or sold in place of another required; e.g.: corn
starch instead rice starch