Lecture 3:

Membrane Structure and Function II (Ch.7);

An Intro to Metabolism (Ch.8)

13/15 September 2017

 Learning Outcome (9)

K20: Students should be able to differentiate

facilitated difusion from active transport
K21: Students should be able to differentiate
hypertonic, hipotonic, and isotonic solutions
K22: Lab
K23: Students should be able to define difusion
K24: Student should be able to explain effects of
temperature and membrane composition on
its fluidity
 Learning Outcome (9)
K25: Students should be able to explain how large
molecules are transported across plasma
membrane
K26: Students should be able to differentiate
catabolism from anabolism
K27: Students should be able to differentiate kinetic
energy from potensial energy
K28: Students should be able to differentiate
exergonic from endergonic reaction
K29: Students should be able to describe
mechanism of lowering energy barriers
Membrane Structure and
Function II (Ch. 7)

How do cell membrane proteins help

regulate chemical traffic?
Previous lecture on plasma membrane

Cellular membranes are fluid mosaics of lipids and

proteins

Membrane fluidity
Membrane proteins and their functions
Six major functions
 1. Membrane structure results in selective permeability

The Permeability of the Lipid Bilayer

Hydrophobic molecules, such as

hydrocarbons, can dissolve in the lipid
bilayer and pass through the membrane
rapidly
Polar molecules, such as sugars, do not
cross the membrane easily

K23: Students should be able to define difusion; K20: Students should be able
to differentiate facilitated difusion from active transport; K25: Students should
be able to explain how large molecules are transported across plasma
membrane
 2. Passive transport is diffusion of a substance across a membrane
with no energy investment
Diffusion is the tendency for molecules to spread out evenly into the
available space
Molecules of dye Membrane (cross section)

Osmosis ? WATER

the diffusion of
water across a Net diffusion Net diffusion Equilibrium
selectively (a) Diffusion of one solute
permeable
membrane

Net diffusion Net diffusion Equilibrium

Net diffusion Net diffusion Equilibrium

(b) Diffusion of two solutes

K23: Students should be able to define difusion

 Water Balance of Cells Without and With Walls
Hypotonic solution Isotonic solution Hypertonic solution

H2O H2O H2O H2O

(a) Animal
cell

Lysed Normal Shriveled

H2O H2O H2O H2O

(b) Plant
cell

Turgid (normal) Flaccid Plasmolyzed

K21: Students should be able to differentiate hypertonic, hipotonic, and isotonic solutions
 Transport Proteins

Transport proteins allow passage of hydrophilic

substances across the membrane
channel proteins, have a hydrophilic channel
that certain molecules or ions can use as a
tunnel
Channel proteins called aquaporins facilitate the
passage of water

K20: Students should be able to differentiate facilitated difusion from active transport
EXTRACELLULAR
FLUID

Channel protein Solute

CYTOPLASM

(a) A channel protein

Facilitated Diffusion: Passive Transport Aided by

Proteins
K20: Students should be able to differentiate facilitated difusion from active transport
 Other transport proteins, called carrier proteins,
bind to molecules and change shape to shuttle
them across the membrane
A transport protein is specific for the substance it
moves

Carrier protein Solute

(b) A carrier protein

K20: Students should be able to differentiate facilitated difusion from active transport
 3. Active transport uses energy to move solutes against their gradients
EXTRACELLULAR Na+
[Na+] high
FLUID Na+
[K+] low

Na+ Na+ Na+

Na+
Na+
Na+

[Na+] low ATP

Na+ P
P
[K+] high
CYTOPLASM ADP
1 2 3
Active transport allows cells to maintain
concentration gradients that differ from their
surroundings

P
P
6 5 4
K20
 Passive transport Active transport

ATP
Diffusion
Facilitated diffusion

K20
4. Bulk transport across the plasma membrane occurs by exocytosis and
endocytosis

In exocytosis, transport vesicles migrate to the

membrane, fuse with it, and release their
contents
In endocytosis, the cell takes in macromolecules
by forming vesicles from the plasma membrane

K25: Students should be able to explain how large molecules are transported across plasma membrane
Endocytosis: PHAGOCYTOSIS
EXTRACELLULAR
(cellular eating) 1 m
CYTOPLASM
FLUID
Pseudopodium
Pseudopodium
of amoeba

Food or
other particle Bacterium
Food
vacuole Food vacuole
An amoeba engulfing a bacterium
via phagocytosis (TEM)

PINOCYTOSIS (cellular drinking)

0.5 m
Plasma
membrane Pinocytosis vesicles
forming (arrows) in
a cell lining a small
blood vessel (TEM)

Vesicle

K25: Students should be able to explain how large molecules are transported across plasma
membrane
 RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ENDOCYTOSIS
Coat protein
Receptor Coated
vesicle

Coated
pit
Ligand

A coated pit
Coat and a coated
vesicle formed
protein during
receptor-
mediated
endocytosis
(TEMs)

Plasma
membrane
0.25 m

K25: Students should be able to explain how large molecules are transported across plasma
membrane
 An Introduction to
Metabolism

What causes these breaking waves to glow?

 5. An organisms metabolism transforms matter and energy,
subject to the laws of thermodynamics

Organization of the Chemistry of Life into Metabolic Pathways

Metabolism is the totality of an organisms chemical

reactions
A metabolic pathway begins with a specific molecule and
ends with a product
Each step is catalyzed by a specific enzyme

Enzyme 1 Enzyme 2 Enzyme 3

A B C D
Reaction 1 Reaction 2 Reaction 3
Starting Product
molecule

K26: Students should be able to differentiate catabolism from anabolism

 Catabolic pathways release energy by breaking
down complex molecules into simpler compounds
Cellular respiration
Anabolic pathways consume energy to build
complex molecules from simpler ones
The synthesis of protein from amino acids

K26: Students should be able to differentiate catabolism from anabolism

 Forms of Energy
Energy is the capacity to cause change
Kinetic energy is energy associated with motion
Heat (thermal energy) is kinetic energy
associated with random movement of atoms or
molecules
Potential energy is energy that matter possesses
because of its location or structure
Chemical energy is potential energy available
for release in a chemical reaction
Energy can be converted from one form to another

K27: Students should be able to differentiate kinetic energy from potensial energy
 The First Law of Thermodynamics
The Second Law of Thermodynamics

According to the first law of thermodynamics, the

energy of the universe is constant:
Energy can be transferred and transformed,
but it cannot be created or destroyed

K28: Students should be able to differentiate exergonic from endergonic reactions

 Stephen Hawking, UK
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist

From the book A Brief History of Time

Imagine a cup of water falling of a table and breaking into pieces on the floor. If
you take a film of this, you can easily tell wether it is being run forward or
backward. If you run it backward, you will see the pieces suddenly gather
themselves together off the floor and jump back to form a whole cup on the table.
You can tell that the film is being run backward because this kind of behavior is
never observed in ordinary life. [...] it is forbidden by the second law of
thermodynamics.
An intact cup on the table is a state of high order, but a broken cup on the floor is a
disordered state. One can go readily from the cup on the table in the past to the
broken cup on the floor in the future, but not the other way round. The increase of
disorder or entropy with time is one example of what is called an arrow of time,
something that distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.

K28: Students should be able to differentiate exergonic from endergonic reactions

 During every energy transfer or transformation,
some energy is unusable, and is often lost as heat
According to the second law of thermodynamics:
Every energy transfer or transformation increases the
entropy (disorder) of the universe

K28: Students should be able to differentiate exergonic from endergonic reactions

 Free energy

Free energy is the portion of a systems

energy that can perform work when
temperature and pressure are uniform
throughout the system, as in a living cell
The free energy change (= G) of a reaction
tells us whether or not a reaction occurs
spontaneously
 Exergonic and Endergonic
Reactants

Reactions in Metabolism (based Amount of

energy
on free energy changes) released

Free energy
(G < 0)
Energy
Products

An exergonic reaction
proceeds with a net
release of free energy
and is spontaneous
Progress of the reaction
(a) Exergonic reaction: energy released
Products

An endergonic reaction Amount of

absorbs free energy energy
Free energy

required

from its surroundings

(G > 0)
Energy
Reactants
and is nonspontaneous
Progress of the reaction

(b) Endergonic reaction: energy required

K28: Students should be able to differentiate exergonic from endergonic reactions

A spontaneous chemical reaction occurs without any
requirement for outside energy, but it may occur so slowly
that it is imperceptible

Example:
Hydrolysis of sucrose to glucose and fructose is
exergonic with a release of free energy (G= - 7
kcal/mol)
Solution of sucrose disolved in sterile water will sit
for years at room temperature with no appreciable
hydrolysis
But if we had a small amount of enzyme (sucrase),
then all the sucrose may be hydrolyzed within
seconds

How does the enzyme speed up metabolic reactions?

 6. Enzymes speed up metabolic reactions by lowering
energy barriers

The Activation Energy Barrier

Every chemical reaction between molecules
involves bond breaking and bond forming
The initial energy needed to start a chemical
reaction is called the free energy of
activation, or activation energy (EA)
Activation energy is often supplied in the form
of heat from the surroundings

K30; Students should be able to describe mechanism of lowering energy barriers

 A B

C D
Transition state

A B EA

C D

Reactants
A B
G < O
C D

Products

Progress of the reaction

K30: Students should be able to describe mechanism of lowering energy barriers
 How Enzymes Lower the EA Barrier?

Enzymes catalyze reactions by lowering the EA barrier

Course of EA
reaction
without without EA with
enzyme enzyme enzyme
is lower
Reactants

Course of G is unaffected
reaction by enzyme
with enzyme

Products
Progress of the reaction

K30: Students should be able to describe mechanism of lowering energy barriers

 1 Substrates enter active site; enzyme
changes shape such that its active site 2 Substrates held in active site
enfolds the substrates (induced fit). by weak interactions, such as
hydrogen bonds and ionic bonds.

Substrates
Enzyme-substrate
complex 3 Active site can lower
EA and speed up a reaction.
6
Active site
Is available
for two new
substrate
molecules.

Enzyme

5 Products are 4 Substrates are

released. converted to products.

Products
 In an enzymatic reaction, the substrate binds to
the active site of the enzyme
The active site can lower an EA barrier by
Orienting substrates correctly
Straining substrate bonds
Providing a favorable microenvironment
Covalently bonding to the substrate
 Summary

1. Membrane structure results in selective permeability

2. Passive transport is diffusion of a substance across a
membrane with no energy investment
3. Active transport uses energy to move solutes against
their gradients
4. Bulk transport across the plasma membrane occurs by
exocytosis and endocytosis
5. An organisms metabolism transforms matter and energy,
subject to the laws of thermodynamics
6. Enzymes speed up metabolic reactions by lowering
energy barriers
 Next Week
Lecture Topics
(1) Cellular Respiration
(2) Photosynthesis
Read Chapter 9 and 10