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cofactor · 3
→Iron
Before iron can leave the gut and the body's stores and be loaded onto its transport protein in the blood, several copper-containing enzymes have to oxidize it. When copper runs short, iron can get stuck where it is and go unused, causing an anemia that looks like iron deficiency.
Bone gets its hardness from the mineral formed by calcium and phosphate, but that mineral is laid down on a scaffold of collagen fibers, and lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links those fibers firmly, needs copper. So even with enough calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D, a copper shortage can still leave bone brittle. Menkes disease, an inherited disorder of copper transport, is the extreme example.
→Bone
Lysyl oxidase needs copper to build cross-links between neighboring collagen fibers; the firmer those links, the tougher the bone. When copper runs short, bone density can still look normal while the bone becomes brittle.
antagonism · 2
↮Zinc
Taking high-dose zinc supplements for a long time suppresses copper absorption and can cause copper deficiency, which leads to anemia and nerve problems.
In the stomachs of cattle, sheep and other ruminants, molybdenum and sulfur combine into tetrathiomolybdate, which grips copper tightly, so livestock on high-molybdenum feed become copper deficient; this is mainly a ruminant phenomenon. The same copper-gripping ability has led to tetrathiomolybdate being studied as a copper-lowering drug for Wilson's disease, in which copper builds up in the body.