Copper has long been known as essential to living systems, in part
through its fundamental role in electron transport and respiration. Over
the years into the present, its involvement in an ever increasing number
of processes in all kinds of organisms has become apparent, and new and
exciting vistas of its roles in such areas as the central nervous
system, and in humoral functions, are appearing on the horizon. Although
the biochemistry of this element has not been studied nearly as much as
that of many others, a for- midable amount of work has been carried out.
It has thus been a challenge to produce a summary of what has been found
that provides both breadth and depth. My goal has been to try to be as
comprehensive as possible, within some limitations. I have tried to
provide basic information and basic data that should continue to be
useful for a long time. The goal has also been to interpret where we
currently stand in our knowledge of the structure, function, regulation,
and metabolism of Cu-dependent processes and sub- stances, especially
proteins. Thus, I have tried to make this a source book for historic as
well as current information on all aspects of copper bio- chemistry, and
a summary of our current knowledge of copper-dependent proteins and
processes. Most of the research on copper has been carried out on
vertebrates, especially mammals. This has played a role in the
organization of the book.