Inhibition of membrane-associated carbonic anhydrase isozymes IX, XII and XIV with a library of glycoconjugate benzenesulfonamides

Umbelliferone and Its Synthetic Derivatives as Suitable Molecules for the Development of Agents with Biological Activities: A Review of Their Pharmacological and Therapeutic Potential

Umbelliferone (UMB), known as 7-hydroxycoumarin, hydrangine, or skimmetine, is a naturally occurring coumarin in the plant kingdom, mainly from the Umbelliferae family that possesses a wide variety of pharmacological properties. In addition, the use of nanoparticles containing umbelliferone may improve anti-inflammatory or anticancer therapy. Also, its derivatives are endowed with great potential for therapeutic applications due to their broad spectrum of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, antipsychotic, antiepileptic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antiproliferative effects. Moreover, 7-hydroxycoumarin ligands have been implemented to develop 7-hydroxycoumarin-based metal complexes with improved pharmacological activity. Besides therapeutic applications, umbelliferone analogues have been designed as fluorescent probes for the detection of biologically important species, such as enzymes, lysosomes, and endosomes, or for monitoring cell processes and protein functions as well various diseases caused by an excess of hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, 7-hydroxy-based chemosensors may serve as a highly selective tool for Al3+ and Hg2+ detection in biological systems. This review is devoted to a summary of the research on umbelliferone and its synthetic derivatives in terms of biological and pharmaceutical properties, especially those reported in the literature during the period of 2017-2023. Future potential applications of umbelliferone and its synthetic derivatives are presented.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor-decorated semiconducting oligomer nanoparticles for active-targeting NIR-II fluorescence tumor imaging

Second near-infrared window (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging has shown great potential in the field of bioimaging. To achieve a better imaging effect, variety of NIR-II fluorescence probes have been designed and developed. Among them, semiconducting oligomers (SOs) have shown unique advantages including high photostability and quantum yield, making them promise in NIR-II fluorescence imaging. Herein, we design a SO nanoparticle (ASONi) for NIR-II fluorescence imaging of tumor. ASONi is composed of an azido-functionalized semiconducting oligomer as the NIR-II fluorescence emitter, and a benzene sulfonamide-ended DSPE-PEG (DSPE-PEG-CAi) as the stabilizer. Owing to the benzene sulfonamide groups on the surface, ASONi has the capability of targeting the carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell. Compared with ASON without benzene sulfonamide groups on the surface, ASONi has a 1.4-fold higher uptake for MDA-MB-231 cells and 1.5-fold higher breast tumor accumulation after i.v. injection. The NIR-II fluorescence signal of ASONi can light the tumor up within 4 h, demonstrating its capability of active tumor targeting and NIR-II fluorescence imaging.

Expression Dynamics of CA IX Epitope in Cancer Cells under Intermittent Hypoxia Correlates with Extracellular pH Drop and Cell Killing by Ureido-Sulfonamide CA IX Inhibitors

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a membrane-bound CA isozyme over-expressed in many hypoxic tumor cells, where it ensures pH homeostasis and has been implicated in tumor survival, metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Given the functional importance of CA IX in tumor biochemistry, we investigated the expression dynamics of CA IX in normoxia, hypoxia and intermittent hypoxia, which are typical conditions experienced by tumor cells in aggressive carcinomas. We correlated the CA IX epitope expression dynamics with extracellular pH acidification and with viability of CA IX-expressing cancer cells upon treatment with CA IX inhibitors (CAIs) in colon HT-29, breast MDA-MB-231 and ovarian SKOV-3 tumor cell models. We observed that the CA IX epitope expressed under hypoxia by these cancer cells is retained in a significant amount upon reoxygenation, probably to preserve their proliferation ability. The extracellular pH drop correlated well with the level of CA IX expression, with the intermittent hypoxic cells showing a similar pH drop to fully hypoxic ones. All cancer cells showed higher sensitivity to CA IX inhibitors (CAIs) under hypoxia as compared to normoxia. The tumor cell sensitivity to CAIs under hypoxia and intermittent hypoxia were similar and higher than in normoxia and appeared to be correlated with the lipophilicity of the CAI.

Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of New Carbohydrate-Based Coumarin Derivatives as Selective Carbonic Anhydrase IX Inhibitors via “Click” Reaction

In this work, we designed a series of new carbohydrate-based coumarin carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitors by using 1,2,3-triazoles as linker. Next, these designed compounds were synthesized by the optimized one-pot click chemistry reaction condition. Subsequently, these target compounds were assayed for the inhibition of three carbonic anhydrase isoforms (CA I, CA II and CA IX). Intriguingly, all the compounds showed better CA IX inhibitory activity than initial coumarin fragments. Among them, compound 10a (IC₅₀: 11 nM) possessed the most potent CA IX inhibitory activity, which was more potent than the reference drug acetazolamide (IC₅₀: 30 nM). Notably, compound 10a showed 3018-fold, 1955-fold selectivity relative to CA I and CA II, respectively. Meanwhile, representative compounds could reduce tumor cell viability and the extracellular acidification in HT-29 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines. Even more interestingly, our target compounds had no apparent cytotoxicity toward MCF-10A cell line. In addition, the in vitro stability assays also indicated our developed compounds possessed good liver microsomal metabolic stabilities and plasma stability. Furthermore, representative compounds revealed relatively low hERG cardiac toxicity and acute toxicity. Furthermore, docking studies were carried out to understand the interactions of our target compounds with the protein target CA IX. Collectively, our results suggest that compound 10a, as a selective CA IX inhibitor, could be an important lead compound for further optimization and development as an anticancer agent.

An overview of carbohydrate-based carbonic anhydrase inhibitors

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are metalloenzymes responsible for the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, a fundamental reaction involved in various physiological and pathological processes. In the last decades, CAs have been considered as important drug targets for different pathologies such as glaucoma, epilepsy and cancer. The design of potent and selective inhibitors has been an outstanding goal leading to the discovery of new drugs. Among the different strategies developed to date, the design of carbohydrate-based CA inhibitors (CAIs) has emerged as a versatile tool in order to selectively target CAs. The insertion of a glycosyl moiety as a hydrophilic tail in sulfonamide, sulfenamide, sulfamate or coumarin scaffolds allowed the discovery of many different series of sugar-based CAIs, with relevant inhibitory results. This review will focus on carbohydrate-based CAIs developed so far, classifying them in glycosidic and glycoconjugated inhibitors based on the conjugation chemistry adopted.

Biophysical, Biochemical, and Cell Based Approaches Used to Decipher the Role of Carbonic Anhydrases in Cancer and to Evaluate the Potency of Targeted Inhibitors

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are thought to be important for regulating pH in the tumor microenvironment. A few of the CA isoforms are upregulated in cancer cells, with only limited expression in normal cells. For these reasons, there is interest in developing inhibitors that target these tumor-associated CA isoforms, with increased efficacy but limited nonspecific cytotoxicity. Here we present some of the biophysical, biochemical, and cell based techniques and approaches that can be used to evaluate the potency of CA targeted inhibitors and decipher the role of CAs in tumorigenesis, cancer progression, and metastatic processes. These techniques include esterase activity assays, stop flow kinetics, and mass inlet mass spectroscopy (MIMS), all of which measure enzymatic activity of purified protein, in the presence or absence of inhibitors. Also discussed is the application of X-ray crystallography and Cryo-EM as well as other structure-based techniques and thermal shift assays to the studies of CA structure and function. Further, large-scale genomic and proteomic analytical methods, as well as cell based techniques like those that measure cell growth, apoptosis, clonogenicity, and cell migration and invasion, are discussed. We conclude by reviewing approaches that test the metastatic potential of CAs and how the aforementioned techniques have contributed to the field of CA cancer research.

Dual-tail approach to discovery of novel carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitors by simultaneously matching the hydrophobic and hydrophilic halves of the active site

Dual-tail approach was employed to design novel Carbonic Anhydrase (CA) IX inhibitors by simultaneously matching the hydrophobic and hydrophilic halves of the active site, which also contains a zinc ion as part of the catalytic center. The classic sulfanilamide moiety was used as the zinc binding group. An amino glucosamine fragment was chosen as the hydrophilic part and a cinnamamide fragment as the hydrophobic part in order to draw favorable interactions with the corresponding halves of the active site. In comparison with sulfanilamide which is largely devoid of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions with the two halves of the active site, the compounds so designed and synthesized in this study showed 1000-fold improvement in binding affinity. Most of the compounds inhibited the CA effectively with IC₅₀ values in the range of 7-152 nM. Compound 14e (IC₅₀: 7 nM) was more effective than the reference drug acetazolamide (IC₅₀: 30 nM). The results proved that the dual-tail approach to simultaneously matching the hydrophobic and hydrophilic halves of the active site by linking hydrophobic and hydrophilic fragments was useful for designing novel CA inhibitors. The effectiveness of those compounds was elucidated by both the experimental data and molecular docking simulations. This work laid a solid foundation for further development of novel CA IX inhibitors for cancer treatment.

Advances in Anti-Cancer Drug Development Targeting Carbonic Anhydrase IX and XII

The microenvironment within a solid tumor is heterogeneous with regions being both acidic and hypoxic. As a result of this, cancer cells upregulate genes that allow survival in such environments. Some of these genes are pH regulatory factors, including carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) and in some cases XII (CA XII). CA IX helps to maintain normal cytoplasmic pH (pHi) while simultaneously contributing to the extracellular pH (pHe). CA XII is also thought to be responsible for stabilizing pHe at physiological conditions. Extracellular acidification of the tumor microenvironment promotes local invasion and metastasis while decreasing the effectiveness of adjuvant therapies, thus contributing to poor cancer clinical outcomes. In this review, we describe the properties of CA IX and CA XII that substantiate their potential use as anticancer targets. We also discuss the current status of CA isoform-selective inhibitor development and patents of CA IX/XII targeted inhibitors that show potential for treating aggressive tumors. Some of the recently published patents discussed include sulfonamide-based small molecule inhibitors including derivatives of boron cluster compounds; metal complexes of poly(carboxyl)amine-containing ligands; nitroi-midazole-, ureidosulfonamide-, and coumarin-based compounds; as well as G250 and A610 monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment.

Structural insights into carbonic anhydrase IX isoform specificity of carbohydrate-based sulfamates

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is an extracellular transmembrane homodimeric zinc metalloenzyme that has been validated as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target for several types of aggressive cancers. CA IX shares a close homology with other CA isoforms, making the design of CA IX isoform selective inhibitors challenging. In this paper, we describe the development of a new class of CA IX inhibitors that comprise a sulfamate as the zinc binding group, a variable linker, and a carbohydrate “tail” moiety. Seven compounds inhibited CA IX with low nM K_i values of 1–2 nM and also exhibited permeability profiles to preferentially target the binding of extracellular CA IX over cytosolic CAs. The crystal structures of two of these compounds in complex with a CA IX-mimic (a variant of CA II, with active site residues that mimic CA IX) and one compound in complex with CA II have been determined to 1.7 Å resolution or better and demonstrate a selective mechanism of binding between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic pockets of CA IX versus CA II. These compounds present promising candidates for anti-CA IX drugs and the treatment for several aggressive cancer types.

A prodrug approach toward cancer-related carbonic anhydrase inhibition

The selective inhibition of cancer-associated human carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzymes, specifically CA IX and XII, has been validated as a mechanistically novel approach toward personalized cancer management. Herein we report the design and synthesis of a panel of 24 novel glycoconjugate primary sulfonamides that bind to the extracellular catalytic domain of CA IX and XII. These compounds were synthesized from variably acylated glycopyranosyl azides and either 3- or 4-ethynyl benzene sulfonamide using Cu(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The CA enzyme inhibition profile for all compounds was determined, while in vitro metabolic stability, plasma stability, and plasma protein binding for a representative set of compounds was measured. Our findings demonstrate the influence of the differing acyl groups on these key biopharmaceutical properties, confirming that acyl group protected carbohydrate-based sulfonamides have potential as prodrugs for selectively targeting the extracellular cancer-associated CA enzymes.

Synthesis and characterisation of novel Co(II) complexes of pyrazole carboxylate derivated of sulfonamide as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors

OBJECTIVES

Two new metal complexes, diaquabis(4-benzoyl-1,5-diphenyl-N-(5-sulfamoyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide)cobalt(II) dihydrate (2) and diaquabis(ethyl-1-(3-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl-3-(5-sulfamoyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylcarbamoyl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylate)cobalt(II) monohydrate (4), containing sulfonamide have been synthesized by the reaction of Co(II) with 4-benzoyl-1,5-diphenyl-N-(5-sulfamoyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (1) and ethyl-1-(3-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl-3-(5-sulfamoyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylcarbamoyl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylate (3), respectively.

METHODS

The structures of Co(II) complexes 2 and 4 have been characterised by spectroscopic methods and elemental analyses. Human carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes (hCA-I and hCA-II) were purified from erythrocyte cells by affinity chromatography. The inhibitory effects of ligands 3 and 4, acetazolamide as a control compound and the newly synthesized complexes on the activity of hydratase and esterase of these isoenzymes have been studied in vitro.

KEY FINDINGS

The concentration of compounds 2 and 4 producing a 50% inhibition of hydratase activity (IC(50) values) were 0.473 ± 0.025 and 0.065 ± 0.002 μm for hCA-I and 0.213 ± 0.015 and 0.833 ± 0.021 μm for hCA-II, respectively. The IC(50) values of synthesized compounds 2 and 4 for esterase activity were, 0.058 ± 0.006 and 0.297 ± 0.015 μm for hCA-I and 0.110 ± 0.010 and 0.052 ± 0.002 μm for hCA-II, respectively. In relation to esterase activity, the inhibition equilibrium constants (K(i) ) were determined as 0.039 ± 0.004 and 0.247 ± 0.035 μm on hCA-I and 0.078 ± 0.002 and 0.363 ± 0.015 μm on hCA-II for 2 and 4, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The synthesized compounds 2 and 4 had effective inhibitory activity (P < 0.0001) on hCA-I and hCA-II than the corresponding free ligands, 1 and 3, and acetazolamide. Compounds 2 and 4 might be considered as potential inhibitors.

Tricyclic sulfonamides incorporating benzothiopyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole and pyridothiopyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole effectively inhibit α- and β-carbonic anhydrase: X-ray crystallography and solution investigations on 15 isoforms

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are ubiquitous isozymes involved in crucial physiological and pathological events, representing the targets of inhibitors with several therapeutic applications. In this connection, we report a new class of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, based on the thiopyrano-fused pyrazole scaffold to which a pendant 4-sulfamoylphenyl moiety was attached. The new sulfonamides 3a-e were designed as constrained analogues of celecoxib and valdecoxib. The most interesting feature of sulfonamides 3 was their predominantly strong inhibition of human (h) CA I and II, as well as those of the mycobacterial β-class enzymes (Rv1284, Rv3273, and Rv3588c), whereas their inhibitory action against hCA III, IV, VA, VB, VI, VII, IX, XII, XIII, and XIV was found to be at least 2 orders of magnitude lower. X-ray crystallography and structural superposition studies made it possible to explain the very distinct inhibition profile of the tricyclic sulfonamides, different from those of celecoxib and valdecoxib.

Metallocene-based inhibitors of cancer-associated carbonic anhydrase enzymes IX and XII

In this study, 20 metallocene-based compounds comprising extensive structural diversity were synthesized and evaluated as carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitors. These compounds proved moderate to good CA inhibitors in vitro, with several compounds displaying selectivity for cancer-associated isozymes CA IX and CA XII compared to off-target CA I and CA II. Compound 6 was the most potent ferrocene-based inhibitor with K(i)s of 5.9 and 6.8 nM at CA IX and XII, respectively. A selection of key drug-like parameters comprising Log P, Log D, solubility, and in vitro metabolic stability and permeability were measured for two of the ferrocene-based compounds, regioisomers 1 and 5. Compounds 1 and 5 were found to have characteristics consistent with lipophilic compounds, however, our findings show that the lipophilicity of the ferrocene moiety is not well modeled by replacement with either a naphthyl or a phenyl moiety in software prediction tools.

Design and synthesis of thiourea compounds that inhibit transmembrane anchored carbonic anhydrases

A library of 32 novel glycoconjugate thiourea-bridged benzene sulfonamides have been synthesized from the reaction of glycosyl isothiocyanates with a panel of simple benzene sulfonamides comprising either a free amine or hydrazide. All compounds were investigated for their ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of five human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) isozymes: hCA I, II and membrane-associated isozymes IX, XII and XIV. A physicochemical feature of the free sugar thioureido glycoconjugates was high water solubility (> 20 mg/mL), as well many of these compounds exhibited a desirable potency and CA isozyme selectivity profile. From this library several inhibitors displayed excellent potency-selectivity profiles for transmembrane anchored CAs over off-target CA I and II. These molecules provide potential dual-acting candidates for the development of inhibitors that target the extracellular CAs (IX, XII and XIV)-either directly as free sugars (membrane impermeable) or indirectly as acetylated prodrugs, becoming free sugars upon esterase hydrolysis.

Targeting hypoxic tumor cell viability with carbohydrate-based carbonic anhydrase IX and XII inhibitors

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzymes, specifically membrane-bound isozymes CA IX and CA XII, underpin a pH-regulating system that enables hypoxic tumor cell survival and proliferation. CA IX and XII are implicated as potential targets for the development of new hypoxic cancer therapies. To date, only a few small molecules have been characterized in CA-relevant cell and animal model systems. In this paper, we describe the development of a new class of carbohydrate-based small molecule CA inhibitors, many of which inhibit CA IX and XII within a narrow range of low nanomolar K(i) values (5.3-11.2 nM). We evaluate for the first time carbohydrate-based CA inhibitors in cell-based models that emulate the protective role of CA IX in an acidic tumor microenvironment. Our findings identified two inhibitors (compounds 5 and 17) that block CA IX-induced survival and have potential for development as in vivo cancer cell selective inhibitors.

Synthesis of 5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-sulphonamide derivatives and their inhibition effects on human carbonic anhydrase isozymes

In this study, some novel inhibitors were synthesised from the further stage reactions of 4-benzoyl-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carbonyl chloride with 5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-sulphonamide 1 (inhibitor 1). They were characterised by elemental and spectral (¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR) analyses. Human carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes (hCA-I and hCA-II) were purified from erythrocyte cells by affinity chromatography. The inhibitory effects of inhibitor 1, acetazolamide (2) and the 11 newly synthesised amides (8-18) on the hydratase and esterase activities of these isoenzymes (hCA-I and hCA-II) were studied in vitro. In relation to these activities, the inhibition equilibrium constants (K(i)) were determined. The K(i) values for the new compounds (8-18) were observed to be well below that of the parent compound inhibitor 1 and were also compared to 2 under the same experimental conditions. The comparison of the newly synthesised amides to inhibitor 1 and to 2 indicated that the new derivatives preferentially inhibited hCA-II and were more potent inhibitors of hCA-II than the parent inhibitor 1 and 2.

Deciphering the mechanism of carbonic anhydrase inhibition with coumarins and thiocoumarins

Coumarin derivatives were recently shown to constitute a totally new class of inhibitors of the zinc metalloenzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1), being hydrolyzed within the CA active site to 2-hydroxycinnamic acids. We explore here a new series of variously substituted coumarins and a thiocoumarin for their interaction with 13 mammalian CA isoforms, detecting low nanomolar and isoform selective inhibitors. The mechanism of action of this class of inhibitors is delineated in detail by resolving the X-ray crystal structure of CA II in complex with trans-2-hydroxy-cinnamic acid, the in situ hydrolysis product of simple coumarin. Thiocoumarins also act as efficient CAIs, similarly to coumarins. The versatility of the (thio)coumarin chemistry, the cis-trans isomerization evidenced here, and easy derivatization of the (thio)coumarin rings, coupled with the nanomolar inhibition range of several isozymes, afford isoform-selective CAIs with various biomedical applications, which render these classes of compounds superior to the clinically used sulfonamides.

Therapeutic applications of glycosidic carbonic anhydrase inhibitors

The zinc enzymes carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are very efficient catalysts for the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate and hence play an important physiological role. In humans, 16 different isozymes have been described, some of them being involved in various pathological disorders. Several of these isozymes are considered as drug targets, and the design of selective inhibitors is a long-standing goal that has captured the attention of researchers for 40 years and has lead to clinical applications against different pathologies such as glaucoma, epilepsy, and cancer. Among the different strategies developed for designing selective CA inhibitors (CAIs), the "sugar approach" has recently emerged as a new attractive and versatile tool. Incorporation of glycosyl moieties in different aromatic/heterocyclic sulfonamide/sulfamides/sulfamates scaffolds has led to the development of numerous and very effective inhibitors of potential clinical value. The clinical use of a highly active carbohydrate-based CA inhibitor, i.e., topiramate, constitutes an interesting demonstration of the validity of this approach. Other carbohydrate-based compounds also demonstrate promising potential for the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases. This review will focus on the development of this emerging sugar-based approach for the development of CAIs.

Novel organometallic cationic ruthenium(II) pentamethylcyclopentadienyl benzenesulfonamide complexes targeted to inhibit carbonic anhydrase

Cationic ruthenium(II) pentamethylcyclopentadienyl benzenesulfonamide sandwich complexes have been synthesized and screened for enzymatic inhibition of the physiologically dominant carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes: human CA I and II, mitochondrial isozymes VA and VB, and the cancer-associated isozyme IX. The complexes demonstrated weaker binding to CAs compared with typical aromatic sulfonamides, inhibiting the enzyme at high nanomolar concentrations. An in vitro cytotoxic evaluation of the complexes was also undertaken against a range of tumorigenic cell lines and a healthy human cell line. Complexes inhibited the growth of cancerous cells at low micromolar concentrations while expressing lower levels of toxicity towards the normal human cell line. Factors influencing the synthesis, cytotoxicity, and enzyme affinity for this series of organometallic complexes are discussed.

Inhibition of carbonic anhydrase isozymes with benzene sulfonamides incorporating thio, sulfinyl and sulfonyl glycoside moieties

A series of benzene sulfonamides incorporating thio, sulfinyl or sulfonyl glycoside moieties were synthesized. These glycoconjugates were investigated for their ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of four human carbonic anhydrases (hCA): isozymes I, II and tumour-associated isozymes IX and XII. The oxidation state of the sulfur in the carbohydrate tail moiety did not influence either enzyme inhibition potency or isozyme selectivity even though presenting opportunities for differing interactions with the target isozymes.

Design of a carbonic anhydrase IX active-site mimic to screen inhibitors for possible anticancer properties

Recently, a convincing body of evidence has accumulated suggesting that the overexpression of carbonic anhydrase isozyme IX (CA IX) in some cancers contributes to the acidification of the extracellular matrix, which in turn promotes the growth and metastasis of the tumor. These observations have made CA IX an attractive drug target for the selective treatment of certain cancers. Currently, there is no available X-ray crystal structure of CA IX, and this lack of availability has hampered the rational design of selective CA IX inhibitors. In light of these observations and on the basis of structural alignment homology, using the crystal structure of carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) and the sequence of CA IX, a double mutant of CA II with Ala65 replaced by Ser and Asn67 replaced by Gln has been constructed to resemble the active site of CA IX. This CA IX mimic has been characterized kinetically using (18)O-exchange and structurally using X-ray crystallography, alone and in complex with five CA sulfonamide-based inhibitors (acetazolamide, benzolamide, chlorzolamide, ethoxzolamide, and methazolamide), and compared to CA II. This structural information has been evaluated by both inhibition studies and in vitro cytotoxicity assays and shows a correlated structure-activity relationship. Kinetic and structural studies of CA II and CA IX mimic reveal chlorzolamide to be a more potent inhibitor of CA IX, inducing an active-site conformational change upon binding. Additionally, chlorzolamide appears to be cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells. This preliminary study demonstrates that the CA IX mimic may provide a useful model to design more isozyme-specific CA IX inhibitors, which may lead to development of new therapeutic treatments of some cancers.

Inhibition of human mitochondrial carbonic anhydrases VA and VB with para-(4-phenyltriazole-1-yl)-benzenesulfonamide derivatives

A library of 10 novel benzenesulfonamides containing triazole-tethered phenyl 'tail' moieties were synthesized by a Cu(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction (DCR) (i.e., click chemistry) between 4-azido benzenesulfonamide and a panel of variously substituted phenyl acetylenes. These compounds were very effective inhibitors (low nanomolar) of the human mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase isozymes VA and VB. Mitochondrial carbonic anhydrases are potential targets for anti-obesity therapies, acting to reduce lipogenesis through a novel mechanism of action. The inhibitors reported here should prove valuable as lead compounds to further investigate the potential of CA inhibition for this novel therapeutic application.

Carbonic anhydrase IX: a new druggable target for the design of antitumor agents

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are a family of enzymes widespread in all life kingdoms. In mammals, isozyme CA IX is highly overexpressed in many cancer types being present in few normal tissues. Its expression is strongly induced by hypoxia present in many tumors, being regulated by the HIF transcription factor and correlated with a poor response to classical chemo- and radiotherapies. CA IX was recently shown to contribute to acidification of the tumor environment, by efficiently catalyzing the hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate and protons with its extracellularly situated active site, leading both to the acquisition of metastasic phenotypes and to chemoresistance with weakly basic anticancer drugs. Inhibition of this enzymatic activity by specific and potent inhibitors was shown to revert these acidification processes, establishing a clear-cut role of CA IX in tumorigenesis. The development of a wide range of potent and selective CA IX inhibitors belonging to diverse chemical classes, such as membrane-impermeant, fluorescent or metal-containing such agents, could thus provide useful tools for highlighting the exact role of CA IX in hypoxic cancers, to control the pH (im)balance of tumor cells, and to develop novel diagnostic or therapeutic applications for the management of tumors. Indeed, both fluorescent inhibitors or positively charged, membrane impermeant sulfonamides have been recently developed as potent CA IX inhibitors and used as proof-of-concept tools for demonstrating that CA IX constitutes a novel and interesting target for the anticancer drug development.

Inhibition of carbonic anhydrases with glycosyltriazole benzene sulfonamides

A library of glycoconjugate benzene sulfonamides have been synthesized and investigated for their ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of physiologically relevant human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) isozymes: hCA I, II, and tumor-associated IX. Our synthetic strategy directly links the known CA pharmacophore (ArSO 2NH 2) to a sugar "tail" moiety through a rigid 1,2,3-triazole linker unit using the Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction or "click chemistry". Many of the glycoconjugates were potent CA inhibitors and exhibited some isozyme selectivity. In particular, the methyl-D-glucuronate triazoles 6 and 14 were potent inhibitors of hCA IX (K(i)s 9.9 and 8.4 nM, respectively) with selectivity also favoring this isozyme. Other exceptional compounds included the deprotected beta-D-ribofuranosyl triazole 15 and alpha-D-mannosyl triazole 17, which were potent and selective hCA II inhibitors (K(i) 7.5 nM and K(i) 2.3 nM, respectively). Collectively, the results confirm that modification of ring size, stereochemical configuration, and chain length in the sugar tail moiety of glycoconjugate CA inhibitors permits tunable potency and selectivity that may constitute an important avenue for the future development of efficacious and selective CA-based therapeutics.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Inhibition of cytosolic isoforms I and II, and extracellular isoforms IV, IX, and XII with sulfamides incorporating sugar moieties

A series of glycosylated sulfamides possessing a diverse substitution pattern, with benzylated, peracetylated, and unsaturated six- and five-membered ring sugar moieties attached to the NHSO(2)NH(2) zinc binding group is reported. These derivatives were tested for the inhibition of five human carbonic anhydrase (hCA, EC 4.2.1.1) isoforms, hCA I, II, IV, IX, and XII. Against hCA I the sulfamides behaved as weak inhibitors, whereas they showed low nanomolar activity against hCA II, IX, and XII, being slightly less effective as hCA IV inhibitors. One compound showed selectivity for inhibiting the tumor-associated isoforms hCA IX and XII over the ubiquitous cytosolic hCA II. The sulfamide zinc binding group may thus indeed lead to very effective glycosylated inhibitors targeting several physiologically relevant isozymes.

Inhibition of carbonic anhydrase isozymes I, II and IX with benzenesulfonamides containing an organometallic moiety

A novel series of benzenesulfonamides that contain ferrocenyl or ruthenocenyl moieties were synthesized and investigated for their ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of physiologically relevant carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes: hCA I, II and tumour-associated IX (h=human). This manuscript describes the regioselective synthesis of both the 1,4- and 1,5-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole benzenesulfonamides from ethynylmetallocene substrates. This is the first report describing the covalent attachment of organometallic moieties to the arylsulfonamide (ArSO(2)NH(2)) CA recognition pharmacophore. At hCA I these metallocene derivatives were either nanomolar or low micromolar inhibitors, while against hCA II and IX inhibition in the range of 9.7-80nM and 10.3-85nM, respectively, was observed. The ruthenocenyl derivatives gave superior CA inhibition compared to the ferrocenyl compounds across all three CA isozymes. These compounds constitute a new organometallic class of CA inhibitors with promising biological activity.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: Selective inhibition of the extracellular, tumor-associated isoforms IX and XII over isozymes I and II with glycosyl-thioureido-sulfonamides

A series of glycosyl-thioureido sulfonamides incorporating glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine tails, and sulfanilamide, halogenosulfanilamide, and metanilamide heads was synthesized. Many of the new compounds showed micromolar-submicromolar affinity for the inhibition of the cytosolic isoforms I and II of the metalloenzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1), but low nanomolar binding to the tumor-associated isozymes, CA IX and XII. The selectivity ratios for the inhibition of the tumor-associated over the cytosolic isozymes were in the range of 107-955 for the most selective such inhibitors.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: Inhibition of human, bacterial, and archaeal isozymes with benzene-1,3-disulfonamides—Solution and crystallographic studies

Three benzene-1,3-disulfonamide derivatives were investigated for their interaction with 12 mammalian alpha-carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1), and three bacterial/archaeal CAs belonging to the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-CA class, respectively. X-ray crystal structure of the three inhibitors in complex with the dominant human isozyme CA II revealed a particular binding mode within the cavity. The sulfonamide group in meta-position to the Zn(2+)-coordinated SO(2)NH(2) moiety was oriented toward the hydrophilic side of the active site cleft, establishing hydrogen bonds with His64, Asn67, Gln92, and Thr200. The plane of the phenyl moiety of the inhibitors was rotated by 45 degrees and tilted by 10 degrees with respect to its most recurrent orientation in other CA II-sulfonamide complexes.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: The X-ray crystal structure of the adduct of N-hydroxysulfamide with isozyme II explains why this new zinc binding function is effective in the design of potent inhibitors

N-Hydroxysulfamide is a 2000-fold more potent inhibitor of the zinc enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) as compared to sulfamide. It also inhibits other physiologically relevant isoforms, such as the tumor-associated CA IX and XII (K(I)s in the range of 0.865-1.34microM). In order to understand the binding of this inhibitor to the enzyme active site, the X-ray crystal structure of the human hCA II-N-hydroxysulfamide adduct was resolved. The inhibitor coordinates to the active site zinc ion by the ionized primary amino group, participating in an extended network of hydrogen bonds with amino acid residues Thr199, Thr200 and two water molecules. The additional two hydrogen bonds in which N-hydroxysulfamide bound to hCA II is involved as compared to the corresponding adduct of sulfamide may explain its higher affinity for the enzyme, also providing hints for the design of tight-binding CA inhibitors possessing an organic moiety substituting the NH group in the N-hydroxysulfamide structure.