User:Enviromet/Subpage for drafting

Here are some suggestions from Invertzoo (talk) 19:55, 12 February 2010 (UTC):

Wikipedia cannot publish any original research, so personal communications from scientists such as Michels about research that has not yet been written up anywhere are not acceptable content.


 * Suggested title: Germicidal effect of copper or something similar... keep it short.


 * Write an intro of no more than two paragraphs which outlines what you are going to say in the article.


 * Link the article very early on to Copper like this: copper or instead you can link it to whatever word or phrase you wish to use in that sentence.


 * Divide the article into sections, using headings or subheadings.


 * Once the article is finally up in article space, insert a link to it in the main Copper article right under the Germicidal effect heading by putting in the following code:

see the edit page for the code


 * Add some categories at the bottom, such as "Category:Copper" and "Category:Biology and pharmacology of chemical elements".


 * Work out which WikiProjects your article might fall under. I think WikiProject Elements here might be a good one. And then put that template on the talk page of the article. It should attract some knowledgeable editors to the article.

Best wishes, Invertzoo (talk) 19:55, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Molecular mechanisms of copper’s germicidal (antimicrobial) action
The metal copper is germicidal by means of the oligodynamic effect. For many years, scientists have been attempting to identify the precise chemical and molecular mechanisms responsible for copper’s antimicrobial properties.

Antimicrobial effect
In 1973, researchers at Battelle Columbus Laboratories contracted to Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio, US conducted a comprehensive literature, technology and patent search that traced the history of understanding the “bacteriostatic and sanitizing properties of copper and copper alloy surfaces” which demonstrated that copper, in very small quantities, has the power to control a wide range of molds, fungi, algae and harmful microbes. Of the 312 citations mentioned in the review across the time period 1892–1973, the observations below are noteworthy:


 * Copper inhibits Actinomucor elegans, Aspergillus niger, Bacterium linens, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Brevibacterium erythrogenes, Candida utilis, Penicillium chrysogenum, Rhizopus niveus, Saccharomyces mandshuricus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in concentrations above 10 g/l


 * Torulopsis utilis is completely inhibited at 0.04 g/l copper concentrations


 * Tubercle bacillus is inhibited by copper as simple cations or complex anions in concentrations from 0.02 to 0.2 g/l


 * Achromobacter fischeri and Photobacterium phosphoreum growth is inhibited by metallic copper


 * Paramecium caudatum cell division is reduced by copper plates placed on Petri dish covers containing infusoria and nutrient media


 * Poliovirus is inactivated within 10 minutes of exposure to copper with ascorbic acid

Molecular mechanisms
A subsequent paper probed some of copper’s antimicrobial mechanisms and cited no less than 120 investigations into the efficacy of copper’s action on microbes. The authors noted that the antimicrobial mechanisms are very complex and take place in many ways, both inside cells and in the interstitial spaces between cells.

Examples of some of the molecular mechanisms noted by various researchers include the following:


 * The 3-dimensional structure of proteins can be altered by copper, so that the proteins can no longer perform their normal functions. The result is inactivation of bacteria or viruses


 * Copper complexes form radicals that inactivate viruses ; Vasudevachari and Antony, 1982).


 * Copper may disrupt enzyme structures, and functions by binding to sulfur- or carboxylate-containing groups and amino groups of proteins (br />


 * Copper may interfere with other essential elements, such as zinc and iron.


 * Copper facilitates deleterious activity in superoxide radicals. Repeated redox reactions on site-specific macromolecules generate OH- radicals, thereby causing “multiple hit damage” at target sites


 * Copper can interact with lipids, causing their peroxidation and opening holes in the cell membranes, thereby compromising the integrity of cells . This can cause leakage of essential solutes, which in turn, can have a desiccating effect.


 * Copper’s damages the respiratory chain in Escherichia coli cells and is associated with impaired cellular metabolism.


 * Faster corrosion correlates with faster inactivation of microorganisms. This may be due to increased availability of cupric ion, Cu2+, which is believed to be responsible for the antimicrobial action.


 * In inactivation experiments on the flu strain, H1N1, which is nearly identical to the H5N1 avian strain and the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) strain, researchers hypothesized that copper’s antimicrobial action probably attacks the overall structure of the virus and therefore has a broad-spectrum effect.

Microbes require copper-containing enzymes to drive certain vital chemical reactions. Excess copper, however, can affect proteins and enzymes in microbes, thereby inhibiting their activities. Researchers believe that copper has the potential to disrupt cell function both inside cells and in the interstitial spaces between cells, probably acting on the cells’ outer envelope.

Most important mechanisms
Currently, researchers believe that the most important antimicrobial mechanisms for copper are as follows:


 * Elevated copper levels inside a cell causes oxidative stress and the generation of hydrogen peroxide. Under these conditions, copper participates in the so-called Fenton-type reaction — a chemical reaction causing oxidative damage to cells.


 * Excess copper causes a decline in the membrane integrity of microbes, leading to leakage of specific essential cell nutrients, such as potassium and glutamate. This leads to desiccation and subsequent cell death.


 * While copper is needed for many protein functions, in an excess situation (as on a copper alloy surface), copper binds to proteins that do not require copper for their function. This “inappropriate” binding leads to loss-of-function of the protein, and/or breakdown of the protein into nonfunctional portions.

These potential mechanisms, as well as others, are the subject of continuing study by academic research laboratories around the world.