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REVIEW ARTICLE

The role of copper and core gene network controlling cuproptosis in infection immunity, diagnosis, and treatment

Junqi Xu1 ,  Zhijian Wang1 ,  Jianping Xie2*
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1 Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
2 Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
MI 2025, 2(1), 59–69; https://doi.org/10.36922/mi.5657
Submitted: 28 October 2024 | Revised: 3 January 2025 | Accepted: 6 January 2025 | Published: 24 January 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Copper is an essential trace element in living organisms and is involved in a variety of biochemical processes, including cellular respiration, iron metabolism, and nerve function. In recent years, research has shown that copper is not only essential for fundamental physiological functions but also plays an important role in immune response and pathological states. In particular, copper death (cuproptosis), a recently discovered cell death pathway that is strongly associated with copper overload, is emerging as an appealing area of immune research. Excess copper can induce cell death as a result of copper ions directly binding to sulfide proteins in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In-depth studies of copper metabolism and its related mechanisms will contribute to developing new diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies and providing new ideas and approaches for tackling infections and other related diseases. This review summarizes the newest understanding of copper death and the latest advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment, providing a valuable reference for the follow-up research on tuberculosis-related vaccines and copper in immunity.

 

Keywords
Copper toxicity
Cuproptosis
Tricarboxylic acid cycle
Funding
This work was supported by the Chongqing Postdoctoral Science Foundation (7820100597) and the Natural Science Foundation (grant numbers: 82072246, 82211530059).
Conflict of interest
Jianping Xie is the Editorial Board Member of this journal but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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