Question

You can take any aspect of cell transport and elaborate on it in more detail. For example, how it works, what is getting transported, why transport is important, specific features, what happens when it goes wrong, how it is connected to other cellular processes like signaling or metabolism, how it can be involved in medical conditions, or why drugs might be used to change transport of certain molecules in some way. There are certainly a number of different ways you can address this topic, and I expect to see a number of impressive postings in this discussion forum! Please use an outside source and do in paragraph citation and ending citation. Please do not plagairize

Answer 1

Transport in the cell occurs through cell membrane which is semi-permeable due to which, the cell could control over the molecules which could pass through and those which can not. There are two major ways that molecules can be moved across a membrane.

1. Diffusion- It means transport of solute or solvents from region of higher concentration to region of lower concentration. This process does not need any extra energy.

2. Active Transport- It means transport of molecules against the gradient and this requires energy and usually comes from hydrolysis of ATP. Transport that directly uses ATP for energy is considered primary active transport. One example is the Sodium-potassium pump that helps maintain resting potential in the cell. During this process, energy released from hydrolysis of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to pump three sodium ions out of and two potassium ions into the cell. Secondary active transport involves moving multiple molecules across the membrane, powering the uphill movement of one molecule.

Due to transport of molecules, essential molecules such as glucose, amino acids, and lipids could readily enter the cell, metabolic intermediates remain in the cell, and waste compounds leave the cell. This is important for the fundamental life processes like respiration to be carried on. The cell membrane also has many receptors, the proper functioning of which are required in cell signalling (e.g Wnt signalling). If cell signalling goes wrong, it could result in various diseases like cancer.