Cox17 is essential for the assembly of functional cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) and for delivery of copper ions to the mitochondrion for insertion into the enzyme in yeast [1]. The structure of Cox17 [2] shows the protein to have an unstructured N-terminal region followed by two helices and several unstructured C-terminal residues. The Cu(I) binding site has been modelled as two-coordinate with ligation by conserved residues Cys23 and Cys26.

1: Mammalian copper chaperone cox17p has an essential role in activation of cytochrome C oxidase and embryonic development. Takahashi Y, Kako K, Kashiwabara S, Takehara A, Inada Y, Arai H, Nakada K, Kodama H, Hayashi J, Baba T, Munekata E; Mol Cell Biol 2002;22:7614-7621. PMID:12370308

2: Yeast cox17 solution structure and Copper(I) binding. Abajian C, Yatsunyk LA, Ramirez BE, Rosenzweig AC; J Biol Chem 2004;279:53584-53592. PMID:15465825