Copper, Two Enzymes and an EU Claim

How Nerve Cells Pass Along Signals

A nerve cell passes information along in two ways: electrically along its own cell membrane, and chemically at the synapse, the narrow gap where one cell releases a messenger substance to the next. Both processes take place within milliseconds and repeat millions of times in the body, every day.

For this sequence to work, a whole range of proteins and enzymes is at work — from forming the messenger substances to supplying energy to the cell itself. A significant share of these enzymes need a metal ion as a fixed component, without which the catalyzed reaction does not proceed, or proceeds only slowly.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has produced scientific opinions on which minerals carry out a documented function in this context. For copper, the European Commission has authorized the following claim on this basis — quoted in full in the next section.

Two Enzyme Steps in Nerve Cells

The authorized claim about copper and the nervous system sums up a documented contribution in a single, reviewed sentence, without naming individual mechanisms. Two enzymes are part of the scientific basis underlying the EFSA assessment and are presented here purely for context.

A Step in the Formation of Noradrenaline

Nerve cells communicate, among other ways, through a group of messenger substances known as catecholamines. One of them, dopamine, is converted in certain nerve cells by the enzyme dopamine β-hydroxylase into a second messenger substance called noradrenaline. This enzyme carries a copper ion in its catalytic center — without this ion, the conversion does not proceed at its full rate.

“Copper contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.” — EU-authorized wording · Regulation (EU) No 432/2012.

A Copper-Containing Enzyme of Cellular Respiration

Nerve cells are among the cells with the highest energy demand in the body, since electrical signal transmission continuously uses energy in the form of ATP. The largest enzyme at the end of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, cytochrome c oxidase, carries two copper centers within its structure. Without these centers, the final step of that process cannot keep up its usual pace.

The Substance of the Insulating Nerve Sheath

Many nerve fibers are wrapped in a layer called the myelin sheath, made up of several layers of cell membranes. The ongoing buildup and remodeling of this layer depends, among other things, on enzymes that contain copper as a structural component. The official text itself does not name these individual structures; they are presented here purely to place the documented overall contribution in scientific context.