Novel bacterial P-type ATPases with histidine-rich heavy-metal-associated sequences.

Menkes disease and Wilson disease are human disorders of copper metabolism. It has recently been shown that both are due to mutations in P-type ATPase copper transport molecules. Related heavy metal transporting ATPases have been described in several strains of bacteria. In an effort to isolate other mammalian metal transporters, we screened a human small intestine library with probes homologous to conserved sequences in the known proteins. Two novel cDNAs were isolated, which encode new members of this family. Surprisingly, they were both of bacterial origin, most likely derived from E. coli sequences transduced during library construction.