Final answer:
Proteins serve critical roles including providing structural support, facilitating muscle contraction, transporting substances, acting as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies, as well as storing nutrients and aiding in communication between cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
Proteins are responsible for a multitude of essential functions within living organisms. They provide structural support to cells and tissues, facilitate movement as contractile proteins in muscles, and serve crucial roles in the transport of substances across cell membranes and within the bloodstream, such as hemoglobin's role in oxygen transport. In addition to these functions, proteins act as enzymes to speed up chemical reactions, hormones to regulate various physiological processes, and as antibodies that play key roles in the immune system. Proteins are also involved in storing nutrients and in cellular communication.