Carbonic anhydrase activity of intact carbonic anhydrase II-deficient human erythrocytes

Intact erythrocytes from subjects with deficiency of blood carbonic anhydrase (CA) II and from normal subjects were assayed for enzyme activity by use of an 18O exchange technique in a solution containing 25 mM (CO2 + NaHCO3) plus 125 mM NaCl. At 25 degrees C and pH 7.4, the catalyzed reaction velocity was 0.32 +/- 0.04 M/s for the CA II-deficient and 1.60 +/- 0.12 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:5. Under the same conditions at 37 degrees C the relative difference between the CA II-deficient and normal cells was much less: the velocity for the CA II-deficient cells was 0.84 +/- 0.07 M/s and for the normal cells 1.60 +/- 0.32 M/s, a ratio of 1:1.9. Results were comparable for the hemolysates with the NaHCO3 reduced to 85 mM (the corresponding intracellular concentration): at 25 degrees C CA II-deficient cells had a velocity of 0.36 +/- 0.01 M/s compared with 1.12 +/- 0.04 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:3.1. At 37 degrees C again the relative difference between hemolysates from CA II normal and deficient cells was much less: the CA II-deficient cells had a reaction velocity of 1.17 +/- 0.22 M/s vs. 2.60 +/- 0.36 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:2.2. The greater fractional reduction of enzyme velocity of CA II-deficient cells at 25 degrees C compared with 37 degrees C appears to be explained by a greater chloride inhibition of the presumed CA I at the lower temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes in the erthrocytes and dorsolateral prostate of the rat

1. Three forms of the zinc-containing enzyme carbonic anhydrase (EC 4.2.1.1) were isolated from the erythrocytes of the rat and two forms from the dorsolateral prostate of the rat. Several additional minor components were observed but not isolated. Separation of the isoenzymes was achieved by ion-exchange chromatography, polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. 2. The general properties of the isolated isoenzymes, their molecular weights and their contents of zinc were closely similar. As catalysts of the hydration of carbon dioxide, however, they were distinctly different. The two most abundant isoenzymes of the erythrocytes, which were found in equal proportions, differed 70-fold in specific activity, whereas the isoenzymes of the dorsolateral prostate were similar to one another and resembled the high-activity component of the erythrocytes. The inhibition of the latter by acetazolamide (5-acetamido-1-thia-3,4-diazole-2-sulphonamide) was mainly competitive, whereas in identical conditions the low-activity erythrocyte component and the dorsolateral prostate isoenzymes were non-competitively inhibited. 3. The use of chloroform-ethanol to remove haemoglobin from the rat haemolysate was found (a) to bring about changes in the kinetic properties of the soluble isoenzymes and (b) to cause the appearance of an additional isoenzyme. 4. The actions were compared of the inhibitors acetazolamide, 1,1-dimethylaminonaphthalene-5-sulphonamide and ethoxzolamide (6-ethoxybenzothiazole-2-sulphonamide) on the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate catalysed by the isoenzymes. 5. The low-activity erythrocyte isoenzyme was an efficient catalyst of the hydrolysis of beta-naphthyl acetate whereas the high-activity forms were much less active towards this ester. Neither of the isoenzymes present in the dorsolateral prostate catalysed this reaction. 6. Carbonic anhydrase in the rat dorsolateral prostate accounts for no more than 5% of the unusually high content of zinc in this organ.     

Carbonic anhydrase activity of rabbit lungs

Pulmonary carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity was studied in rabbit lungs perfused with solutions containing no CA. Measurements were made of the amount of 14CO2 appearing in the expired gas following injections of H14CO3(-), 14CO2, or a 20:1 mixture of each into the pulmonary artery. The fraction of the injected label in the expired gas was only 17% greater for 14CO2 than for the mixture, suggesting that equilibration between H14CO3(-) and 14CO2 was nearly complete during the capillary transit time. Inhibition of pulmonary CA decreased excretion of H14CO3(-) and the mixture by 40 and 49% and increased the excretion of 14CO2 by 96%. Addition of CA to the perfusate had no effect. Thus, CO2 exchange is not significantly limited by pulmonary CA if inhibitors are absent. Tissue binding of [3H]acetazolamide injected into the pulmonary artery was diminished by 50% when acetazolamide concentrations reached 0.13 x 10(-6) M. Each liter of extravascular lung water contained 1.25 x 10(-6) mol of receptors for acetazolamide that were accessible to plasma during a single circulation. Binding of [3H]acetazolamide was also observed in lungs of anesthetized rabbits, suggesting that pulmonary CA is accessible to plasma in vivo as well as in situ.     

Carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes II and I are present in the zona glomerulosa cells of the human adrenal gland

Human carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes I and II (HCA I and II) were purified from human erythrocytes by inhibitor affinity chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. These isoenzymes were then located in the human adrenal gland using specific polyclonal antisera raised in rabbits and specific detection by immunohistochemical techniques. Both HCA II and I were located in the zona glomerulosa cells, although the staining for HCA I was faint. The cells of the zona fasciculata and the zona reticularis failed to stain with either antiserum. Control stainings with preimmune or anti-HCA VI sera were negative. The presence of HCA II and I in the zona glomerulosa cells may be linked to regulation of the biosynthesis or secretion of mineralocorticoids.     

Carbonic anhydrase in the monkey kidney

The distribution of carbonic anhydrase in the kidney of the cynomolgus monkey was studied by the histochemical method of Hansson. Glomeruli and Bowman's capsule were inactive. Convoluted proximal tubules showed high enzyme activity at the brush border and the basolateral membranes and the cytoplasm. Straight proximal tubules were less intensely stained. In nephrons with long loops of Henle, the descending thin limb contained weak enzyme activity, whereas the ascending thin limb was inactive. The thick limb of Henle's loop displayed most enzyme activity at the luminal cell border. In distal convoluted tubules enzyme activity was restricted to the basal part of the cells. In the late distal tubule, intercalated cells appeared among the "ordinary" distal cells and contained abundant cytoplasmic enzyme. Many intensely stained intercalated cells were also found in the cortical and outer medullary segments of the collecting duct, intermingled with more weakly stained chief cells. In the inner medullary segment of the collecting duct, enzyme activity gradually disappeared. Many capillaries were clearly stained for enzyme activity. The capillary staining apparently varied with that of the kidney tubules; virtually all capillaries in the cortex, but very few in the inner medulla, were stained. The distribution of carbonic anhydrase in the kidney tubules of the monkey is very similar to that in man and in the rat, but the primate kidney differs from the rat kidney by the presence of capillary enzyme activity. The functional importance of this difference is not clear at present.     

Carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes in nine troops of Kenya baboons, Papio cynocephalus (Linnaeus 1766)

The distributions of alleles at the carbonic anhydrase I (CA I = CA B) and carbonic anhydrase II (CA II = CA C) loci in nine troops of Papio cynocephalus were determined. Two alleles were found at the CA I locus, and three at the CA II locus; the frequencies were: CA I^a = 0.856; CA I^b = 0.144; CA II^a = 0.784; CA II^b = 0.209; CA II^c = 0.007. Results of tests for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, homogeneity tests, and calculations of migration rates were used in support of the interpretation that migration and genetic drift may affect the distribution of alleles at the CA I locus and that selection is the process responsible for the distribution of alleles at the CA II locus.     

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: inhibition of human and bovine isoenzymes by benzenesulphonamides,cyclitols and phenolic compounds

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) are a class of pharmaceuticals used as anti-glaucoma agents, diuretics and anti-epileptics. We report here the inhibitory capacities of benzenesulphonamides, cyclitols and phenolic compounds 1–11 against three human CA isozymes (hCA I, hCA II and hCA VI) and bovine skeletal muscle carbonic anhydrase III (bCA III). The four isozymes showed quite diverse inhibition profiles with K_i values ranging from low micromolar to millimolar concentrations against all isoenzymes. Compound 5 and 6 had more powerful inhibitory action against hCA I and very similar action against hCA II and hCA VI as compared with acetazolamide (AZA) and sulphapyridine (SPD), specific CAIs. Probably the inhibition mechanism of the tested compounds is distinct of the sulphonamides with RSO₂NH₂ groups and similar to that of the coumarins/lacosamide, i.e. binding to a distinct part of the active site than that where sulphonamides bind. These data may lead to drug design campaigns of effective CAIs possessing a diverse inhibition mechanism compared to other sulphonamide/sulphamate inhibitors.     

Carbonic anhydrase of the cotton plant

Nonaqueous fractionation of leaves of the cotton plant suggested that carbonic anhydrase was associated with the chloroplasts. Activity of this enzyme in aqueous extracts prepared in media containing no reductants was stable at 4°. Response to sulfhydryl reagents varied. The results indicated that thiol groups, necessary for the activity of the enzyme, were partially protected from oxidation.     

Carbonic anhydrase in human platelets.

The carbonic anhydrase activity of human platelets was investigated by measuring the kinetics of CO2 hydration in supernatants of platelet lysates by using a pH stopped-flow apparatus. An average carbonic anhydrase concentration of 2.1 microM was determined for pellets of human platelets. Analysis of the kinetic properties of this carbonic anhydrase yielded a Km value of 1.0 mM, a catalytic-centre activity kcat. of 130000 s-1 and an inhibition constant Ki towards ethoxzolamide of 0.3 nM. From these values, CO2 hydration inside platelets is estimated to be accelerated by a factor of 2500. When platelet lysates were subjected to affinity chromatography, only the high-activity carbonic anhydrase II could be eluted from the affinity column, whereas the carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme I, which is known to occur in high concentrations in human erythrocytes, appeared to be absent.