title: Mechanisms of copper homeostasis in bacteria.
abstract: Copper is an important micronutrient required as a redox co-factor in the catalytic centers of enzymes. However, free copper is a potential hazard because of its high chemical reactivity. Consequently, organisms exert a tight control on Cu(+) transport (entry-exit) and traffic through different compartments, ensuring the homeostasis required for cuproprotein synthesis and prevention of toxic effects. Recent studies based on biochemical, bioinformatics, and metalloproteomics approaches, reveal a highly regulated system of transcriptional regulators, soluble chaperones, membrane transporters, and target cuproproteins distributed in the various bacterial compartments. As a result, new questions have emerged regarding the diversity and apparent redundancies of these components, their irregular presence in different organisms, functional interactions, and resulting system architectures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Argüello
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raimunda
authors.forename: Teresita
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Padilla-Benavides
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006706:Homeostasis; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003300:Copper
keywords: Cu+-ATPases; copper; homeostasis; metallochaperones; metalloenzymes; transmembrane transport