DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Knowing how copper enters cells could prove essential to treating copper deficiencies in humans, say North Carolina scientists.
Researchers in Duke University Medical Center say people derive copper exclusively from their diet -- from shellfish, legumes, red wine, nuts, seeds and chocolate, among other sources. However, too much copper is toxic, copper deficiencies in adults can trigger brain deficits, heart enlargement, visual impairment, anemia, skin and hair breakdown, and other organ damage.
The Duke team studied copper absorption in mice and identified, for the first time, the cellular gateway through which copper passes. An identical gateway is present in humans, as well as in other animals and plants, according to study leader Dennis J. Thiel.
The gateway is a copper "transporter," a specific pore on the surface of intestinal cells that funnels copper inside the intestinal walls. From there, copper is absorbed by the bloodstream and distributed throughout the body to serve as an engine to jumpstart the activity of dozens of proteins that carry out essential functions.
The findings are published in the journal Cell Metabolism, available online.
