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Wilson's disease (WD, MIM#277900) is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting in copper excess caused by biallelic variants in the ATP7B gene (MIM#606882) encoding a copper transporting P‐type ATPase. ATP7B variants of unknown significance (VUS) are detected frequently, sometimes impeding a clear diagnosis. Functional analyses can help to classify these variants as benign or pathogenic. Additionally, variants already classified as (likely) pathogenic benefit from functional analyses to understand their pathomechanism, thus contribute to the development of personalized treatment approaches in the future. We described clinical features of six WD patients and functionally characterized five ATP7B missense variants (two VUS, three yet uncharacterized likely pathogenic variants), detected in these patients. We determined the protein level, copper export capacity, and cellular localization in an in vitro model and potential structural consequences using an ATP7B protein model based on AlphaFold. Our analyses give insight into the pathomechanism and allowed reclassification for the two VUS to likely pathogenic and for two of the three likely pathogenic variants to pathogenic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Copper (Cu) is an essential metal for bacterial physiology but in excess it is bacteriotoxic. To limit Cu levels in the cytoplasm, most bacteria possess a transcriptionally responsive system for Cu export. In the Gram-positive human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus [GAS]), this system is encoded by the copYAZ operon. This study demonstrates that although the site of GAS infection represents a Cu-rich environment, inactivation of the copA Cu efflux gene does not reduce virulence in a mouse model of invasive disease. In vitro, Cu treatment leads to multiple observable phenotypes, including defects in growth and viability, decreased fermentation, inhibition of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GapA) activity, and misregulation of metal homeostasis, likely as a consequence of mismetalation of noncognate metal-binding sites by Cu. Surprisingly, the onset of these effects is delayed by ∼4 h even though expression of copZ is upregulated immediately upon exposure to Cu. Further biochemical investigations show that the onset of all phenotypes coincides with depletion of intracellular glutathione (GSH). Supplementation with extracellular GSH replenishes the intracellular pool of this thiol and suppresses all the observable effects of Cu treatment. These results indicate that GSH buffers excess intracellular Cu when the transcriptionally responsive Cu export system is overwhelmed. Thus, while the copYAZ operon is responsible for Cu homeostasis, GSH has a role in Cu tolerance and allows bacteria to maintain metabolism even in the presence of an excess of this metal ion. IMPORTANCE The control of intracellular metal availability is fundamental to bacterial physiology. In the case of copper (Cu), it has been established that rising intracellular Cu levels eventually fill the metal-sensing site of the endogenous Cu-sensing transcriptional regulator, which in turn induces transcription of a copper export pump. This response caps intracellular Cu availability below a well-defined threshold and prevents Cu toxicity. Glutathione, abundant in many bacteria, is known to bind Cu and has long been assumed to contribute to bacterial Cu handling. However, there is some ambiguity since neither its biosynthesis nor uptake is Cu-regulated. Furthermore, there is little experimental support for this physiological role of glutathione beyond measuring growth of glutathione-deficient mutants in the presence of Cu. Our work with group A Streptococcus provides new evidence that glutathione increases the threshold of intracellular Cu availability that can be tolerated by bacteria and thus advances fundamental understanding of bacterial Cu handling.

This short review will summarize the current knowledge on the uptake, storage and export of copper ions by astrocytes and will address the potential roles of astrocytes in copper homeostasis in the normal and diseased brain. Astrocytes in culture efficiently accumulate copper by processes that include both the copper transporter Ctr1 and Ctr1-independent mechanisms. Exposure of astrocytes to copper induces an increase in cellular glutathione (GSH) content as well as synthesis of metallothioneins, suggesting that excess of copper is stored as complex with GSH and in metallothioneins. Furthermore, exposure of astrocytes to copper accelerates the release of GSH and of glycolytically generated lactate. Astrocytes are able to export copper and express the Menkes protein ATP7A. This protein undergoes reversible, copper-dependent trafficking between the trans-Golgi network and vesicular structures. The ability of astrocytes to efficiently take up, store and export copper suggests that astrocytes play a key role in the supply of neurons with copper and that astrocytes should be considered as target for therapeutic inventions that aim to correct disturbances in brain copper homeostasis.

A comprehensive technological copper cycle treating a series of life stages (mining and processing, fabrication, utilization, and end of life) has been constructed for sixteen countries on the European continent for the year 1994. In this paper we draw on that information to present country-level copper cycles for a sampling of the countries. We then compare the countries on the basis of their relative and absolute copper production, import/export, usage, recycling, and losses to the environment, and go on to produce per capita assessments of flow and stock changes. Among the results of particular interest are: (1) country-level copper budgets possess features often different from the continental budgets of which they are a part. For example, Europe extracted only slightly more copper from mines than it deposited in landfills, while the mine to landfill flow ratio was about 11:1 in Poland and near zero in the United Kingdom; (2) Germany led all other countries in the group of sixteen in the absolute magnitude of every major copper flow (production, import, export, consumption, and waste generation, and in per capita flows of copper entering use and waste management), while the Benelux countries led all others in per capita flows for all other categories; (3) citizens of essentially all the countries discarded 1–3 kg Cu/year, mostly in obsolete electronics and end-of-life vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) is an essential metal for bacterial physiology but in excess it is bacteriotoxic. To limit Cu levels in the cytoplasm, most bacteria possess a transcriptionally responsive system for Cu export. In the Gram-positive human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus [GAS]), this system is encoded by the copYAZ operon. This study demonstrates that although the site of GAS infection represents a Cu-rich environment, inactivation of the copA Cu efflux gene does not reduce virulence in a mouse model of invasive disease. In vitro , Cu treatment leads to multiple observable phenotypes, including defects in growth and viability, decreased fermentation, inhibition of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GapA) activity, and misregulation of metal homeostasis, likely as a consequence of mismetalation of noncognate metal-binding sites by Cu. Surprisingly, the onset of these effects is delayed by ∼4 h even though expression of copZ is upregulated immediately upon exposure to Cu. Further biochemical investigations show that the onset of all phenotypes coincides with depletion of intracellular glutathione (GSH). Supplementation with extracellular GSH replenishes the intracellular pool of this thiol and suppresses all the observable effects of Cu treatment. These results indicate that GSH buffers excess intracellular Cu when the transcriptionally responsive Cu export system is overwhelmed. Thus, while the copYAZ operon is responsible for Cu homeostasis , GSH has a role in Cu tolerance and allows bacteria to maintain metabolism even in the presence of an excess of this metal ion. IMPORTANCE The control of intracellular metal availability is fundamental to bacterial physiology. In the case of copper (Cu), it has been established that rising intracellular Cu levels eventually fill the metal-sensing site of the endogenous Cu-sensing transcriptional regulator, which in turn induces transcription of a copper export pump. This response caps intracellular Cu availability below a well-defined threshold and prevents Cu toxicity. Glutathione, abundant in many bacteria, is known to bind Cu and has long been assumed to contribute to bacterial Cu handling. However, there is some ambiguity since neither its biosynthesis nor uptake is Cu-regulated. Furthermore, there is little experimental support for this physiological role of glutathione beyond measuring growth of glutathione-deficient mutants in the presence of Cu. Our work with group A Streptococcus provides new evidence that glutathione increases the threshold of intracellular Cu availability that can be tolerated by bacteria and thus advances fundamental understanding of bacterial Cu handling., (Copyright © 2020 Stewart et al.)

This short review will summarize the current knowledge on the uptake, storage, and export of copper ions by astrocytes and will address the potential roles of astrocytes in copper homeostasis in the normal and diseased brain. Astrocytes in culture efficiently accumulate copper by processes that include both the copper transporter Ctr1 and Ctr1-independent mechanisms. Exposure of astrocytes to copper induces an increase in cellular glutathione (GSH) content as well as synthesis of metallothioneins, suggesting that excess of copper is stored as complex with GSH and in metallothioneins. Furthermore, exposure of astrocytes to copper accelerates the release of GSH and glycolytically generated lactate. Astrocytes are able to export copper and express the Menkes protein ATP7A. This protein undergoes reversible, copper-dependent trafficking between the trans-Golgi network and vesicular structures. The ability of astrocytes to efficiently take up, store and export copper suggests that astrocytes play a key role in the supply of neurons with copper and that astrocytes should be considered as target for therapeutic interventions that aim to correct disturbances in brain copper homeostasis.