title: Mechanism of Cu(A) assembly.
abstract: Copper is essential for proper functioning of cytochrome c oxidases, and therefore for cellular respiration in eukaryotes and many bacteria. Here we show that a new periplasmic protein (PCu(A)C) selectively inserts Cu(I) ions into subunit II of Thermus thermophilus ba(3) oxidase to generate a native Cu(A) site. The purported metallochaperone Sco1 is unable to deliver copper ions; instead, it works as a thiol-disulfide reductase to maintain the correct oxidation state of the Cu(A) cysteine ligands.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, (S2002LRK) Rosario, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luciano A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Abriata
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Banci
authors.forename: Ivano
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bertini
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciofi-Baffoni
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gkazonis
authors.forename: Georgios A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Spyroulias
authors.forename: Alejandro J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vila
authors.forename: Shenlin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang