The inhibition of bovine carbonic anhydrase by saccharin and 2- and 4-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide

The present work demonstrates that the high-activity zinc metalloenzyme, carbonic anhydrase (CA II) from bovine erythrocytes is inhibited by the cyclic sulfimide, saccharin, and 2- and 4-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide. A spectrophotometric method was employed to monitor the enzymatically catalyzed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate by following the increase in absorbance at 410 nm which accompanies p-nitrophenoxide/p-nitrophenol formation. The more rapid enzymatic hydration of CO2 was monitored by using a stopped-flow spectrophotometer as well as by a modified colorimetric method of Wilbur and Anderson. The studies show that, at a given molar ratio of inhibitor to enzyme, the degree of inhibition of the enzymaic hydration of CO2 and hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate by the inhibitory compounds is essentially the same. Kinetic analyses were made at 25.0 degrees at pH 6.5 (MES buffers), pH 6.9 (HEPES buffers) and pH 7.9 (HEPES buffers) with ionic strength regulated by the addition of appropriate quantities of sodium sulfate. Lineweaver-Burk plots were used to evaluate apparent inhibition constants for each of the three inhibitors. For all the inhibitors studied, inhibition appears to be mixed (competitive/noncompetitive). For saccharin in the presence of sodium sulfate, the extent of inhibition is considerably decreased. It was found for the three inhibitors that the inhibitory potency decreases with increasing pH, and that the inhibitory potency is extremely sensitive to the shape of these rather closely related molecules. For example, apparent inhibition constants for the enzymatic hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate at pH 6.9 were Ki (saccharin) = 0.20 mM, Ki (2-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide) = 0.54 mM and Ki (4-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide) = 1.6 microM. For the enzymatic hydration of CO2 at pH 6.9, 0.10 mM saccharin caused 50% inhibition while 7.0 nM 4-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide resulted in 50% inhibition. The results suggest that sulfonamide inhibition is caused by formation of a monodentate ligand at the zinc ion of the enzyme active site and that the more linear 4-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide is better able to enter a conical enzyme active site than is 2-carbobenzoxybenzene sulfonamide or saccharin.