A cell is called an elementary unit of the structure of living organisms. All living things — be they humans, animals, plants, fungi, or bacteria — basically have a cell. In someone’s body these cells are many - hundreds of thousands of cells make up the body of mammals and reptiles, and in someone’s few - many bacteria consist of just one cell. But the number of cells is not as important as their presence.
It has long been known that cells have all the properties of living things: they breathe, eat, multiply, adapt to new conditions, even die. And, like all living things, in the composition of cells there are organic and inorganic substances.
Inorganic substances are much more, because inorganic substances are both water and mineral substances. Of course, the largest part of the department called "inorganic substances of the cell" is allocated to water - it makes up 40-98% of the total cell volume.
Water in the cell performs many important functions: it ensures the elasticity of the cell, the speed of the chemical reactions taking place in it, the movement of incoming substances through the cell and their withdrawal. In addition, many substances dissolve in water, it can participate in chemical reactions, and it is water that is responsible for the thermoregulation of the whole organism, since water has good thermal conductivity.
In addition to water, inorganic substances of the cell include many mineral substances, which are divided into macrocells and microelements.
Macronutrients include substances such as iron, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, carbon, phosphorus, calcium and many others.
Trace elements are, for the most part, heavy metals such as boron, manganese, bromine, copper, molybdenum, iodine and zinc.
The body also has ultramicroelements, among which are gold, uranium, mercury, radium, selenium and others.
All inorganic substances of the cell play their own important role. So, nitrogen is involved in a wide variety of compounds - both protein and non-protein, contributes to the formation of vitamins, amino acids, pigments.
Calcium is a potassium antagonist, serves as an adhesive for plant cells.
Molybdenum improves the resistance of plants against parasitic fungi, helps accelerate protein synthesis.
Iron is involved in the process of respiration, is part of hemoglobin molecules.
Copper is responsible for the formation of blood cells, heart health and good appetite.
Boron is responsible for the growth process, especially in plants.
Potassium provides colloidal properties of the cytoplasm, protein formation and normal heart function.
Sodium also provides the correct rhythm of cardiac activity.
Sulfur is involved in the formation of certain amino acids.
Phosphorus is involved in the formation of a huge number of irreplaceable compounds, such as nucleotides, some enzymes, AMP, ATP, ADP.
And only the role of micronutrients is still absolutely unknown.
But inorganic substances of the cell alone could not make it full and alive. Organic matter is no less important than them.
Organic substances include carbohydrates, lipids, enzymes, pigments, vitamins and hormones.
Carbohydrates are divided into monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides and oligosaccharides. Monodio- and polysaccharides are the main source of energy for the cell and the body, but oligosaccharides that do not dissolve in water glue the connective tissue and protect the cells from adverse external influences.
Lipids are divided into fats and lipoids themselves - fat-like substances that form oriented molecular layers.
Enzymes are catalysts that accelerate biochemical processes in the body. In addition, enzymes reduce the amount of energy consumed to give reactivity to a molecule.
Vitamins are necessary for regulating the oxidation of amino acids and carbohydrates, as well as for full growth and development.
Hormones are necessary to regulate the life of the body.