Active Transport and Bulk Transport Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering cellular active transport mechanisms, including the sodium-potassium pump, bulk transport using vesicles, endocytosis, exocytosis, pinocytosis, and phagocytosis.

Sodium-potassium pump

A transport protein mechanism in animal cells that burns energy to move $3$ sodium ions out of the cell and $2$ potassium ions into the cell, creating a concentration gradient.

Endocytosis

A form of transport that brings large substances or molecules into the cell by enclosing them in a vesicle formed from the plasma membrane.

Exocytosis

A form of transport where a vesicle carrying large substances, chemical signals, or waste products fuses with the plasma membrane to export them out of the cell.

Pinocytosis

Also referred to as cellular drinking, a type of endocytosis where the cell takes in small gulps of liquid particles from its external environment using vesicles.

Phagocytosis

A type of endocytosis used to bring large solid particles into the cell by enclosing them within a vacuole, which often fuses with a lysosome for digestion.

Membrane ruffling

The swirly movement of the cell membrane observed as a cell forms vesicles to grab liquid particles during pinocytosis.

Neutrophil

A type of white blood cell immune cell that crawls along surfaces in the bloodstream to chase and engulf invading bacteria via phagocytosis.

Amoeba

A single-celled eukaryotic organism that uses phagocytosis to wrap around and ingest other microscopic organisms.

Paramecium

A single-celled organism that can be enclosed within a vacuole and digested by an amoeba through phagocytosis.