Editorial: The Neurodietetics and Genetics of Copper and Iron

For long the focus of research on copper and iron in the brain has had a mainstay on the significance of molecules in the brain using these metals as co-factors. [...]the understanding of transport of the metals through the blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers and the understanding of the further handling of the metals inside the brain have received prioritizing from many research groups. [...]the possibility of nutritional deficiency caused by insufficient dietary supply of copper and iron has also gained interest, and attempts to delineate the impact of dietary insufficient on the brain, not at least the developing brain, are important topics that could aid in understanding periods during development where sufficient metal supply could be a highest importance. Lessons from studies in the Mottled mouse reveal that the ATP7A protein is expelling copper from certain cells including cells in the kidney, intestine, placenta and testis, and that deficiency in ATP7A function leads to excessive or even toxic amounts of copper in these tissues and at the same time lack of copper in other tissues.