Copper is an essential trace element for eukaryotes and most prokaryotes, but it has toxic side effects, so the levels of intracellular free copper must be limited. Mass spectrometry has now been used to measure the apparent Cu(I)-binding affinities of a representative set of intracellular copper proteins involved in redox catalysis, in copper trafficking to and within different cellular compartments, and in copper storage. The results provide the thermodynamic basis for the kinetic processes that lead to the distribution of cellular copper.
- Lucia Banci
- Ivano Bertini
- Peep Palumaa