Why are proteins crucial to cell growth and maintenance?
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Explanation:
Majority of the cell components are made from proteins.
The proteins on the cell membrane are very important, as they ensure that things can get out of the cell and get in. These are proteins called carrier proteins or channel proteins. Their main goal is to ensure that large molecules, and ions can diffuse through those proteins both by facilitated diffusion or active transport. Without this process, the cell would not receive it's water, and much more crucial things.
There are also proteins inside the cell which are also very important. There are also lysosomes inside cells, which contain proteins called lysosome, which help break down waste products. Without these, the cells cannot recycle old things, and bring in new things.
For maintenance, it's simply that proteins are needed because they make crucial things in our cells called enzymes. Enzymes are biological catalysts which help catalyze metabolic reactions inside our cytoplasm and the mitochondria, which is crucial as it releases energy, in order for the need of survival or the cell itself. Enzymes are also play pivotal roles during cell replication, since they replicate the DNA due to the help of DNA polymerase, and DNA helicase. These are needed to successfully create a new DNA strand, which can help make a new cell.