1.4.3

Endocytosis & Exocystosis

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Endocytosis and Exocytosis

Endocytosis and exocytosis are two other ways in which substances can be actively transported across membranes using ATP.

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Endocytosis

  • Endocytosis is when a cell engulfs a substance from its surroundings.
  • This is achieved by the fluid cell membrane folding around the substance.
  • At this point, the substance will separate from the membrane and enter into the cytoplasm in a membrane-bound vesicle.
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Phagocytosis

  • Phagocytosis (the condition of “cell eating”) is a type of endocytosis in which large particles, such as cells, are taken in by a cell.
    • For example, when microorganisms invade the human body, a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil will remove the invaders through this process.
  • In preparation for phagocytosis, a portion of the inward-facing surface of the plasma membrane becomes coated with a protein called clathrin, which stabilizes this section of the membrane.
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Other types of endocytosis

  • Pinocytosis:
    • This is a process that takes in liquid molecules, including water, which the cell needs from the extracellular fluid.
  • Receptor-mediated endocytosis:
    • In this process the uptake of substances by the cell is targeted to a single type of substance that binds to the receptor on the external surface of the cell membrane
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Exocytosis

  • Exocytosis is when membrane-bound vesicles fuse with plasma membranes before releasing the substances within them into their surroundings.
  • Exocytosis is the process used by cells when they have produced a substance that needs to be exported (e.g. proteins) and when there are toxins that need to be removed from the cell.
    • An example of exocytosis is the secretion of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft by synaptic vesicles.

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