A catalyst is responsible for a decrease in activation energy of a reaction. This allows an enzyme to use less energy to manipulate its substrate into a transition state.

Enzymes are biological molecules that help catalyze reactions by lowering the energy of activation and increasing the rate of a reaction. They can do this by a number of mechanisms including: providing a template for substrates to join together in an efficient manner; distorting a substrate so it approaches the unstable/transition state; and providing a microenvironment conducive to a reaction. Inhibitors and activators can affect enzymes activity by slowing down and increasing enzyme activity respectively.

Enzyme activity can be affected by environmental factors such as temperature and pH. This is because proteins denature and lose their shape at high temperatures and extreme pHs. Most enzymes prefer to act under a temperature close to body temperature. Optimal pH is usually physiologic at pH 6 to 8; however, digestive enzymes prefer lower pH around 2 to 3 (e.g. pepsin, which makes sense because pepsin works in acidic conditions within the stomach). 

Enzymes are all proteins, however there are some RNA molecules that have been found to catalyze reactions, but they are termed ribozymes, not enzymes. They speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy of a reaction and do not change the energy states of the reactants or products. 

Proteins commonly act to facilitate reactions that would otherwise not take place. By lowering activation energy, proteins often serve as catalysts. A protein catalyst in a biological reaction is known as an enzyme. All enzymes are proteins.

GLUT1 is a protein that allows glucose to pass into a cell through the membrane. Glucose is a large polar molecule, meaning that it will require a protein in order to diffuse across the membrane. GLUT1 must span the entire length of the plasma membrane in order to provide a "passage" for glucose to diffuse. As a result, GLUT1 is classified as an integral protein, or a protein that fully transverses the membrane.

Peripheral, or extrinsic proteins, are situated on the surfaces of membranes, and do not span across the bilayer. Enzymes catalyze biological reactions; GLUT1 is a transport protein, and does not catalyze any reactions.

While some proteins (such as histones) can pass down information from generation to generation, typically DNA is the macromolecule associated with encoding information.

Proteins commonly catalyze reactions. When these reactions occur in a biological organism, the proteins are considered enzymes. Proteins can also be embedded in cellular membranes, acting as channels or receptors to allow molecular transport. One protein, tubulin, is used to build cilia and flagella (as well as microtubules) that are essential to cell motility.

Proteins are organic molecules made of amino acids that are capable of interfacing with certain substrates and facilitating cellular activities. Enzymes are a sub-group of proteins that are used to speed up reactions within the body. Enzymatic proteins are essential to many biological and cellular processes, such as cellular respiration, transcription, and DNA replication.

You should immediately realize that amylase is an enzyme because it ends in "-ase". Remember that enzymes are proteins; therefore they are made up of amino acids. All amino acids contain a carboxylic acid (-COOH), an amine (-NH₂), and a hydrogen (-H) attached to the central carbon. Phosphate groups (-PO₃) are more commonly found in lipids and nucleic acids, not in proteins. No amino acids contain phosphate groups, though phosphates can be added to certain amino acids to activate certain proteins and enzymes (phosphorylation).

Enzymes are catalysts that function to increase the rate of a reaction. All enzymes are proteins and they are never consumed in a reaction. Another form of biological catalyst is ribozymes, which are made of protein and RNA, but are not classified as enzymes.