W
bioLLM/wiki

AI-Curated Biotech/Medical Knowledge Base
Live
Back to List View Graph View

Copper

Copper is an essential transition metal with broad biological and medical relevance.

Where the papers sit

24 papers from the last 6 months study copper directly · updated from PubMed 10 Oct 2026

Study type 1 clinical trial · 1 observational · 3 human data · 18 preclinical · 1 unclassified

Themes one subject · 1 new direction

Those 24 are all about one subject.

  • Metal-Linked Biology and Materials

    Metal-linked biology and materials span copper-driven redox effects, amyloid aggregation, cuproptosis, infection control, tissue repair, and engineered composites. Biomedical studies use chelation, nanoparticles, hydrogels, nanoclusters, and immunotherapy to alter metal handling or exploit metal toxicity. Other work addresses material properties and responsive scaffolds rather than a shared disease mechanism. No single therapeutic direction dominates, but copper-mediated oxidative stress and metal-enabled intervention recur across the set.

    24 papers

NEW DIRECTION

Copper, rather than zinc, can govern chelator-induced axon-regeneration effects

The optic nerve injury model studied with TPEN and the Cu(I)-selective chelator PSP-2 found that copper chelation, not zinc chelation, likely stimulates axon regeneration, while TPEN sequesters attomolar-buffered cellular Cu(I) through an oxygen-dependent redox-trapping mechanism 42615641Aug. This assigns copper a previously unrepresented role as the biologically relevant determinant of a regeneration phenotype and identifies TPEN's presumed zinc-specific use as a confounded interpretation, shifting experimental attention toward copper-selective tools and copper regulation in neural repair.

copper chemical structure

Papers

The 24 papers from the last 6 months that study copper directly, newest first, by theme and by study type. Study types come from PubMed publication types and MeSH headings.

By theme

Metal-Linked Biology and Materials (24)
  1. Restoring brain functions in the Mo-blo mouse model of Menkes disease with copper nanoclusters. Science advances · 30 Sept 2026 PMID 42814820
  2. Metallotoxicity-driven oxidative perturbations in spinal cord injury: Unraveling the pathophysiological nexus between metal-induced redox imbalance and disease severity: A correlational and multivariate analysis. Molecular biology reports · 15 Sept 2026 PMID 42742870
  3. Prediction of the properties of sintered copper-graphite composites using response surface methodology. PloS one · 11 Sept 2026 PMID 42726785
  4. An Inhalable Hybrid Nitric Oxide Nanogenerator for Lung Adenocarcinoma Treatment via Bioorthogonal-Activated Gas-Immunotherapy. Journal of the American Chemical Society · 9 Sept 2026 PMID 42714559
  5. Metal-Ion-Mediated Amyloid- β Aggregation in Alzheimer's Disease: A Mathematical Model of Chelation and Inhibitory Therapies. Bulletin of mathematical biology · 21 Aug 2026 PMID 42624961
  6. TPEN, a Well-Known Zinc Chelator, Sequesters Attomolar-Buffered Cellular Cu(I) Through an Oxygen-Dependent Mechanism. ACS chemical neuroscience · 19 Aug 2026 PMID 42615641
  7. Targeting Activator Protein-1 Transcription Factor Subunit FOSL1-Mediated Cuproptosis Sensitizes Radioresistant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. ACS nano · 18 Aug 2026 PMID 42611215
  8. Solvent-Directed Assembly and Rheological Dynamics of Multistimuli-Responsive Mg(II) and Cu(II) Metallosupramolecular Flexible Nanoscaffolds for Biological Applications. The journal of physical chemistry. B · 13 Aug 2026 PMID 42593139
  9. Chirality-dependent antibacterial activity of copper-cysteine nanoparticles enables functional silk sutures for enhanced wound healing. Biomaterials science · 13 Aug 2026 PMID 42592816
  10. Multi-omics mechanistic studies for curcumin-mediated intracellular copper release to alleviate MAFLD. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 12 Aug 2026 PMID 42584672
  11. Ultrasound-responsive metastable copper/zinc-polyphenol framework for targeted anti-infection of diabetic wounds. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 10 Aug 2026 PMID 42575213
  12. Metal Ion-Triggered Collapsed Hydrogels as Materials for Bacterial Population Control. ACS applied bio materials · 10 Aug 2026 PMID 42574693
  13. Silver and Copper Nanoparticles as Non-Antibiotic Therapy for Postpartum Endometritis in Dairy Cows. Veterinary medicine and science · 5 Aug 2026 PMID 42555560
  14. A copper nanoplatform with irreversible electroporation induces cuproptosis via lipid reprogramming and remodels tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 26 Jul 2026 PMID 42503313
  15. An injectable thiolated alginate/oxidized dextran hydrogel with curcumin-copper nanoparticles for corneal neovascularization after alkali burn. Carbohydrate polymers · 23 Jul 2026 PMID 42493130
  16. Nilotinib induces immunogenic cuproptosis to potentiate cancer immunotherapy. Cell reports. Medicine · 22 Jul 2026 PMID 42486098
  17. Design of an activatable unimolecular multicargo prodrug to deliver diethyldithiocarbamate and copper for targeted ovarian cancer therapy. Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) · 21 Jul 2026 PMID 42478879
  18. Plasmonic trimer nanoarrays with probe-trapping sites for SERS detection of urinary copper in Wilson's disease. The Analyst · 10 Jul 2026 PMID 42429542
  19. Electric-Field-Driven Ferredoxin 1-Independent Cuproptosis Induction Overcomes Therapy-Induced Resistance in Glioblastoma. ACS nano · 7 Jul 2026 PMID 42411583
  20. Asymmetric hydrogel with "spear-shield" properties promotes diabetic foot ulcer healing by modulating macrophage autophagy. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 6 Jul 2026 PMID 42409241
  21. A Self-Monitoring Single-Atom Copper Nanocapsule for Cascade-Responsive Tumor Cuproptosis Therapy. Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 6 Jul 2026 PMID 42405495
  22. Injectable pH-responsive gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel for cuproptosis-synergized sunitinib therapy and immune reprogramming in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Acta biomaterialia · 2 Jul 2026 PMID 42392517
  23. Photothermal Pulse Output-Nanomachines for Enhanced Cuproptosis in Tumor Cells. ACS applied bio materials · 30 Jun 2026 PMID 42378513
  24. In vitro effects of pH variation and immune-induced copper accumulation on the antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of levofloxacin during Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. Bioorganic chemistry · 13 May 2026 PMID 42127742

By study type

Clinical trials (1)
  1. Silver and Copper Nanoparticles as Non-Antibiotic Therapy for Postpartum Endometritis in Dairy Cows. Veterinary medicine and science · 5 Aug 2026 PMID 42555560
Observational studies and case reports (1)
  1. Metallotoxicity-driven oxidative perturbations in spinal cord injury: Unraveling the pathophysiological nexus between metal-induced redox imbalance and disease severity: A correlational and multivariate analysis. Molecular biology reports · 15 Sept 2026 PMID 42742870
Human data, design not indexed (3)
  1. Metal-Ion-Mediated Amyloid- β Aggregation in Alzheimer's Disease: A Mathematical Model of Chelation and Inhibitory Therapies. Bulletin of mathematical biology · 21 Aug 2026 PMID 42624961
  2. Plasmonic trimer nanoarrays with probe-trapping sites for SERS detection of urinary copper in Wilson's disease. The Analyst · 10 Jul 2026 PMID 42429542
  3. Photothermal Pulse Output-Nanomachines for Enhanced Cuproptosis in Tumor Cells. ACS applied bio materials · 30 Jun 2026 PMID 42378513
Preclinical: animal, cell and lab studies (18)
  1. Restoring brain functions in the Mo-blo mouse model of Menkes disease with copper nanoclusters. Science advances · 30 Sept 2026 PMID 42814820
  2. Prediction of the properties of sintered copper-graphite composites using response surface methodology. PloS one · 11 Sept 2026 PMID 42726785
  3. An Inhalable Hybrid Nitric Oxide Nanogenerator for Lung Adenocarcinoma Treatment via Bioorthogonal-Activated Gas-Immunotherapy. Journal of the American Chemical Society · 9 Sept 2026 PMID 42714559
  4. TPEN, a Well-Known Zinc Chelator, Sequesters Attomolar-Buffered Cellular Cu(I) Through an Oxygen-Dependent Mechanism. ACS chemical neuroscience · 19 Aug 2026 PMID 42615641
  5. Targeting Activator Protein-1 Transcription Factor Subunit FOSL1-Mediated Cuproptosis Sensitizes Radioresistant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. ACS nano · 18 Aug 2026 PMID 42611215
  6. Solvent-Directed Assembly and Rheological Dynamics of Multistimuli-Responsive Mg(II) and Cu(II) Metallosupramolecular Flexible Nanoscaffolds for Biological Applications. The journal of physical chemistry. B · 13 Aug 2026 PMID 42593139
  7. Chirality-dependent antibacterial activity of copper-cysteine nanoparticles enables functional silk sutures for enhanced wound healing. Biomaterials science · 13 Aug 2026 PMID 42592816
  8. Ultrasound-responsive metastable copper/zinc-polyphenol framework for targeted anti-infection of diabetic wounds. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 10 Aug 2026 PMID 42575213
  9. Metal Ion-Triggered Collapsed Hydrogels as Materials for Bacterial Population Control. ACS applied bio materials · 10 Aug 2026 PMID 42574693
  10. A copper nanoplatform with irreversible electroporation induces cuproptosis via lipid reprogramming and remodels tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 26 Jul 2026 PMID 42503313
  11. An injectable thiolated alginate/oxidized dextran hydrogel with curcumin-copper nanoparticles for corneal neovascularization after alkali burn. Carbohydrate polymers · 23 Jul 2026 PMID 42493130
  12. Nilotinib induces immunogenic cuproptosis to potentiate cancer immunotherapy. Cell reports. Medicine · 22 Jul 2026 PMID 42486098
  13. Design of an activatable unimolecular multicargo prodrug to deliver diethyldithiocarbamate and copper for targeted ovarian cancer therapy. Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) · 21 Jul 2026 PMID 42478879
  14. Electric-Field-Driven Ferredoxin 1-Independent Cuproptosis Induction Overcomes Therapy-Induced Resistance in Glioblastoma. ACS nano · 7 Jul 2026 PMID 42411583
  15. Asymmetric hydrogel with "spear-shield" properties promotes diabetic foot ulcer healing by modulating macrophage autophagy. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 6 Jul 2026 PMID 42409241
  16. A Self-Monitoring Single-Atom Copper Nanocapsule for Cascade-Responsive Tumor Cuproptosis Therapy. Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 6 Jul 2026 PMID 42405495
  17. Injectable pH-responsive gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel for cuproptosis-synergized sunitinib therapy and immune reprogramming in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Acta biomaterialia · 2 Jul 2026 PMID 42392517
  18. In vitro effects of pH variation and immune-induced copper accumulation on the antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of levofloxacin during Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. Bioorganic chemistry · 13 May 2026 PMID 42127742
Unclassified: not yet indexed with MeSH (1)
  1. Multi-omics mechanistic studies for curcumin-mediated intracellular copper release to alleviate MAFLD. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 12 Aug 2026 PMID 42584672
bioLLM/wiki is a literature-navigation aid for people who read primary research. It is not a medical resource, and it is not a substitute for a clinician, a pharmacist or the source papers themselves. Because the articles are drafted by language models, they can be incomplete or wrong in ways that read fluently. Please see the editorial policy and medical disclaimer before relying on anything here.

Written from 24 PubMed abstracts, each one listed by PMID above. Published: 2026-08-15. Last written: 2026-09-17 by GPT. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.