Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Active Transport01:14

Active Transport

Active transport is a critical biological process that allows cells to move solutes against an electrochemical gradient. This process requires direct energy input and is characterized by its selectivity, saturability, and susceptibility to competitive inhibition.
Primary active transporters, like Na+, K+ and -ATPase, directly utilize ATP to move ions across the membrane. These transporters play significant roles in various physiological processes. For instance, Na+, K+ and -ATPase maintain...
Facilitated Diffusion01:16

Facilitated Diffusion

The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport01:19

Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport

Certain large, lipid-insoluble drug molecules that resemble amino acids, peptides, or glucose, require specialized carrier proteins to facilitate their diffusion across cell membranes. This transport can occur through either facilitated diffusion, which does not require energy input, or active transport, which does require energy input.
Facilitated diffusion is a passive process that utilizes human Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters. These transporters bind to the drug, undergo structural...
Transcellular Transport of Solutes01:23

Transcellular Transport of Solutes

Transcellular transport of solutes is the movement of substances like monosaccharides and amino acids through polarized cells. This transport mechanism is primarily seen in epithelial and endothelial cells aided by membrane transport proteins such as channels and transporters. The tight junctions between these cells confine the membrane proteins to the two sides of the cell. The epithelial cells have distinct apical and basolateral domains. In contrast, the endothelial cells show the luminal...
Fluid Movement Between Compartments01:18

Fluid Movement Between Compartments

The force applied by fluids against a surface, known as hydrostatic pressure, initiates the transfer of fluid among different compartments. Within our blood vessels, the blood's hydrostatic pressure is a result of the heart's pumping action. At the arteriolar end of capillaries, hydrostatic pressure (capillary blood pressure) exceeds the opposing colloid osmotic pressure created primarily by plasma proteins like albumin. This discrepancy in pressure propels plasma and nutrients from the...
Mechanisms of Drug Absorption: Paracellular, Transcellular, and Vesicular Transport01:23

Mechanisms of Drug Absorption: Paracellular, Transcellular, and Vesicular Transport

Drugs need to permeate cell membranes to reach their target sites after administration. Orally administered drugs must transcend intestinal epithelial membrane barriers to infiltrate the systemic circulation. Drugs with a molecular weight of less than 500 Daltons diffuse through gaps between neighboring cells, called paracellular pathways.
However, most drugs use the transcellular route, traversing directly through the cell membranes via two mechanisms: passive and active transport. Passive...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Deep learning of functional perturbations from condensate morphology.

Cell·2026
Same author

Ribosome biogenesis bottlenecks reveal vulnerabilities in cancer.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Ribosome Molecular Aging Shapes Translation Dynamics.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Kinase KEY1 controls pyrenoid condensate size throughout the cell cycle by disrupting phase separation interactions.

Nature cell biology·2026
Same author

Metabolism of Epigenetic Ribonucleosides Leads to Nucleolar Stress and Cytotoxicity.

ACS chemical biology·2026
Same author

Design of de novo nucleolar surface proteins.

Biophysical journal·2025
Same journal

Horizontal transfer of mitochondria in cancer: The physiology reborn in disease?

Trends in cell biology·2026
Same journal

Spindle errors: A stress test for epithelial robustness.

Trends in cell biology·2026
Same journal

Multicellular ecosystems: Linking cellular diversity to tissue function and disease.

Trends in cell biology·2026
Same journal

Orchestrating the signaling-bias at the protease-activated receptor, PAR1.

Trends in cell biology·2026
Same journal

Crashing by design: Utilizing DNA damage for MCC differentiation.

Trends in cell biology·2026
Same journal

The value of a shared lab: Our insights.

Trends in cell biology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Demonstration of Membrane Transport of Histidine using Goat Intestinal Inverted Sacs: An Experiential Pedagogical Tool for Undergraduates
04:40

Demonstration of Membrane Transport of Histidine using Goat Intestinal Inverted Sacs: An Experiential Pedagogical Tool for Undergraduates

Published on: October 4, 2024

Intracellular transport by active diffusion.

Clifford P Brangwynne1, Gijsje H Koenderink, Frederick C MacKintosh

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.

Trends in Cell Biology
|August 25, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Living cells utilize active transport, beyond passive diffusion, to generate faster particle movement. This biologically tunable mechanism drives random fluctuations, mimicking but exceeding thermal motion for efficient cellular transport.

More Related Videos

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
18:57

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers

Published on: October 17, 2013

Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters
11:51

Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters

Published on: February 3, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Demonstration of Membrane Transport of Histidine using Goat Intestinal Inverted Sacs: An Experiential Pedagogical Tool for Undergraduates
04:40

Demonstration of Membrane Transport of Histidine using Goat Intestinal Inverted Sacs: An Experiential Pedagogical Tool for Undergraduates

Published on: October 4, 2024

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
18:57

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers

Published on: October 17, 2013

Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters
11:51

Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters

Published on: February 3, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Biophysics
  • Physical chemistry

Background:

  • All substances exhibit random motion due to thermal agitation, leading to diffusion.
  • Living cells employ active transport mechanisms, like motor activity and polymerization forces, which are inherently directed.
  • Active processes in cells can generate significant random fluctuations resembling, yet exceeding, thermal diffusion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To discuss recent advancements in quantifying active transport-driven fluctuations in cells.
  • To identify the origins and biological consequences of these enhanced random motions.
  • To highlight active transport as a key cellular transport mechanism.

Main Methods:

  • Quantification of active transport-driven random fluctuations.
  • Analysis of the origins of these fluctuations within cellular processes.
  • Investigation of the biological consequences and implications for cellular transport.

Main Results:

  • Active cellular processes can produce random particle motion that is faster than passive thermal diffusion.
  • These active fluctuations are a distinct phenomenon from standard thermal agitation.
  • The behavior is biologically tunable, suggesting active regulation.

Conclusions:

  • Active transport mechanisms are a significant driver of cellular transport, distinct from passive diffusion.
  • These active processes generate tunable random fluctuations that enhance particle movement.
  • Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for comprehending cellular dynamics and function.