Nature of copper and zinc compounds in tissues from a patient with Menkes kinky hair syndrome.

Copper and zinc concentrations, and the nature of the copper- and zinc-binding proteins, were studied using tissues from a Menkes patient who had been given intravenous infusions of cupric acetate. The liver and brain copper contents were lower than in an untreated, non-Menkes control, and the spleen, intestine and kidney showed higher copper concentrations than control tissues. Zinc concentrations in all the organs (except the kidneys) from the Menkes patient were slightly lower than those the control child. Using Sephadex G-75 column chromatography of cytosols (105,000 x g supernatant), three copper- and zinc-containing peaks were eluted. In all the Menkes tissues studied, copper was prominent in peak 3. On the other hand, peak 3 was the smallest and peak 1 was the largest in the control tissues. Zinc predominated in peak 1 in both Menkes and control tissues, except for Menkes kidney. In this tissue peak 3 was again the largest. The copper- and zinc-binding material in peak 3 fractions from Menkes kidney was chromatographed on DEAE-cellulose columns. Three copper- and zinc-containing peaks were observed at the same positions as metallothionein from human adult kidneys.