第5章細胞膜の構造と機能

The reverse process of moving material into a cell is the process of exocytosis. Exocytosis is the opposite of the processes we discussed above in that its purpose is to expel material from the cell into the extracellular fluid. Waste material is enveloped in a membrane and fuses with the plasma membrane's interior. This fusion opens the membranous envelope on the cell's exterior, and the waste material expels into the extracellular space (Figure 5.24). Other examples of cells releasing molecules via exocytosis include extracellular matrix protein secretion and neurotransmitter secretion into the synaptic cleft by synaptic vesicles.

Active transport methods require directly using ATP to fuel the transport. In a process scientists call phagocytosis, other cells can engulf large particles, such as macromolecules, cell parts, or whole cells. In phagocytosis, a portion of the membrane invaginates and flows around the particle, eventually pinching off and leaving the particle entirely enclosed by a plasma membrane's envelope. The cell breaks down vesicle contents, with the particles either used as food or dispatched. Pinocytosis is a similar process on a smaller scale. The plasma membrane invaginates and pinches off, producing a small envelope of fluid from outside the cell. Pinocytosis imports substances that the cell needs from the extracellular fluid. The cell expels waste in a similar but reverse manner. It pushes a membranous vacuole to the plasma membrane, allowing the vacuole to fuse with the membrane and incorporate itself into the membrane structure, releasing its contents to the exterior.