Why might it be important to move nutrients into a cell even when the concentration gradient is going the opposite direction?

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Introduction

Passive transport(Opens in a new window) is a great strategy for moving molecules into or out of a cell. It's cheap, it's easy, and all the cell has to do is sit there and let the molecules diffuse in. But...it also doesn't work in every situation. For instance, suppose the sugar glucose is more concentrated inside of a cell than outside. If the cell needs more sugar in to meet its metabolic needs, how can it get that sugar in?

Here, the cell can't import glucose for free using diffusion, because the natural tendency of the glucose will be to diffuse out rather than flowing in. Instead, the cell must bring in more glucose molecules via active transport. In active transport, unlike passive transport, the cell expends energy (for example, in the form of ATP) to move a substance against its concentration gradient.

Here, we’ll look in more detail at gradients of molecules that exist across cell membranes, how they can help or hinder transport, and how active transport mechanisms allow molecules to move against their gradients.

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