Human copper homeostasis: a network of interconnected pathways

Copper plays an essential role in normal human physiology. Copper misbalance affects heart development, CNS and liver function, influences lipid metabolism, inflammation, and resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Recent studies yielded new information on the structure, function, and regulation of human copper transporters, uncovered unanticipated functions for copper chaperones, and established connections between copper homeostasis and other metabolic pathways. It has become apparent that the copper trafficking machinery is regulated at several levels and that the cross-talk between cell compartments contributes to the intracellular copper balance. The human copper regulon is emerging.