High-resolution structure of human carbonic anhydrase II complexed with acetazolamide reveals insights into inhibitor drug design

The crystal structure of human carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) complexed with the inhibitor acetazolamide (AZM) has been determined at 1.1 Å resolution and refined to an R_cryst of 11.2% and an R_free of 14.7%. As observed in previous CA II-inhibitor complexes, AZM binds directly to the zinc and makes several key interactions with active-site residues. The high-resolution data also showed a glycerol molecule adjacent to the AZM in the active site and two additional AZMs that are adventitiously bound on the surface of the enzyme. The co-binding of AZM and glycerol in the active site demonstrate that given an appropriate ring orientation and substituents, an isozyme-specific CA inhibitor may be developed.