Help in glycocalyx negative charge

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a_zed24

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Hello everyone, sorry i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question.
My Physiology book says one of the glycocalyx functions is to repel negative charges (since it's negatively charged itslef).
My question is, why does a cell need to repel negative charges in the first place?
Thanks!

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The inside of the cell is always negatively charged due to the ions and proteins inside it. It's about -50mV to -70mV.

Not sure if you've gone over this but in order for many of the cells processes to function properly (action potential in neurons and muscle contraction) there needs to be electricochemical gradient between the cell and the interstitial fluid. Ions always passively diffuse from high to low concentration, or positive (outside the cell) to negative (inside the cell) driving many cell functions.
Without this gradient many biological processes wouldn't work. Hope this helps.
 
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