The aim of study was to assay serum copper, zinc and lipid peroxidation levels in pregnant women with and without preeclampsia. There were significant differences between systolic, diastolic blood pressures and copper, Cu/Zn ratio and malondialdehyde among two groups. There were significant differences in weight, pre-pregnancy body mass index, systolic, diastolic blood pressures and copper, Cu/...

A spectroscopic study of aqueous solutions of Ac-WGHGHGHGPGHGHGH-NH(2) (HGP) indicates that copper(II) binds to the peptide to form a 2:1 Cu(2+)/HGP complex with four nitrogen atoms in the copper coordination environment. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and UV-visible data suggest copper binding through the peptide backbone and imidazole nitrogen donors. Circular dichroism data show that ...

Oxygen-activating copper proteins may possess His-X(aa)-His chelating sequences at their active sites and additionally exhibit imidiazole group δN vs εN tautomeric preferences. As shown here, such variations strongly affect copper ion's coordination geometry, redox behavior, and oxidative reactivity. Copper(I) complexes bound to either δ-HGH or ε-HGH tripeptides were synthesized and characteriz...

The plasmid-encoded pco copper resistance operon in Escherichia coli consists of seven genes that are expressed from two pco promoters in response to elevated copper; however, little is known about how they mediate resistance to excess environmental copper. Two of the genes encode the soluble periplasmic proteins PcoA and PcoC. We show here that inactivation of PcoC, and PcoA to a lesser extent...

an 8 month old boy is presented with clinical and laboratory features of menkes' kinky hair syndrome. a brief discussion ensues.

The preparation and crystal structures of (4,11-dibenzyl1,4,8,11-tetraazabicyclo[6.6.2]hexadecaneN)copper(I) hexāuorophosphate, [Cu(C26H38N4)]PF6, and acetonitrile(4,11dibenzyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazabicyclo[6.6.2]hexadecaneN)copper(II) bis(hexa ̄uorophosphate), [Cu(C2H3N)(C26H38N4)](PF6)2, are described. The Cu I ion is tetracoordinated in a very distorted tetrahedron, while the Cu analogue is pentac...

Copper effects on human health represent a relevant issue in modern nutrition. One of the difficulties in assessing the early, acute effects of copper ingested via drinking water is that the taste of copper may influence the response and the capacity to taste copper in different waters is unknown. The purpose of the study was to determine the taste threshold of copper in different types of wate...

For centuries, many Mediterranean catchments were covered with vineyards in which copper was widely applied to protect grapevines against fungus. In the Mediterranean-type flow regime, brief and intense flood events increase the stream water discharge by up to 10 times and cause soil leaching and storm runoff. Because vineyards are primarily cultivated on steep slopes, high Cu fluxes are discha...

Copper is an essential mineral and plays important roles in skin growth and activity. Copper delivery through skin can provide beneficial effects but its potential to induce skin irritation reactions is often overlooked. Data on dermal toxicity caused by copper compounds is scant. Some recognized in vitro skin toxicity methods are unsuitable for all metal compounds. Here, we employ a keratinocy...

A comprehensive survey of the interaction of the copper proteins and oxygen is presented including a correlation of structure, function, and other properties of the known copper oxidases and of hemocyanin. The origin of their blue color and the structure of copper complexes and copper proteins are related to the oxidation state of copper ion and relevant electronic transitions probably arising ...