where does facilitated diffusion occur in the cell membrane
Facilitated diffusion Polar molecules and large ions dissolved in water cannot diffuse freely across the plasma membrane due to the hydrophobic nature of the fatty acid tails of the phospholipids that make up the lipid bilayer. Only small, non-polar molecules, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, can diffuse easily across the membrane. Hence, no nonpolar molecules are transported by proteins in the form of transmembrane channels. These channels are gated, meaning that they open and close, and thus deregulate the flow of ions or small polar molecules across membranes, sometimes against the osmotic gradient. Larger molecules are transported by transmembrane carrier proteins, such as permeases, that change their conformation as the molecules are carried across (e.g. glucose or amino acids). Non-polar molecules, such as retinol or lipids, are poorly soluble in water. They are transported through aqueous compartments of cells or through extracellular space by water-soluble carriers (e.g. retinol binding protein). The metabolites are not altered because no energy is required for facilitated diffusion. Only permease changes its shape in order to transport metabolites. The form of transport through a cell membrane in which a metabolite is modified is called group translocation transportation.
Active transport Specialized transmembrane proteins recognize the substance and allow it to move across the membrane when it otherwise would not, either because the phospholipid bilayer of the membrane is impermeable to the substance moved or because the substance is moved against the direction of its concentration gradient.[7] There are two forms of active transport, primary active transport and secondary active transport. In primary active transport, the proteins involved are pumps that normally use the chemical energy in the form of ATP. Secondary active transport, however, makes use of potential energy, which is usually derived through exploitation of an electrochemical gradient. The energy created from one ion moving down its electrochemical gradient is used to power the transport of another ion moving against its electrochemical gradient.[8] This involves pore-forming proteins that form channels across the cell membrane. The difference between passive transport and active transport is that the active transport requires energy, and moves substances against their respective concentration gradient, whereas passive transport requires no energy and moves substances in the direction of their respective concentration gradient.[9]