NMR studies of carbonic anhydrase-fluorinated benzenesulfonamide complexes

Fluorine NMR has been used to examine complexes formed by 2-fluoro-, 3-fluoro-, and 2,5-difluorobenzenesulfonamide and human carbonic anhydrases I and II. The results show that all three inhibitors form complexes with both isozymes that have 2:1 inhibitor/enzyme stoichiometry. The fluorine spectra observed for all inhibitor-isozyme combinations are consistent either with rapid rotation of the aromatic ring of the inhibitor in the complexes or with preferential binding of only one of the two possible conformations of the inhibitors that are isomeric by virtue of rotation about the C1-C4 bond of the fluoro aromatic ring. Because ring rotation is slow in the case of the pentafluorobenzenesulfonamide-CA I complex, selective binding of rotamers is the explanation of these observations presently favored. A computer graphics study shows that formation of 2:1 complexes of CA I is feasible without appreciable distortion of the protein tertiary structure found in the crystalline state.