The inhibition of human carbonic anhydrase II by some organic compounds.

The inhibition of human carbonic anhydrase II (carbonate hydro-lyase, EC 4.2.1.1) by tetrazole, 1,2,4-triazole, 2-nitrophenol, and chloral hydrate has been investigated. These inhibitors, together with phenol which has been studied previously (Simonsson, I., Jonsson, B.-H. and Lindskog, S. (1982) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 108, 1406-1412), can be classified in three groups depending upon the kinetic patterns of inhibition of CO2 hydration at pH near 9. The first group, represented by tetrazole and 2-nitrophenol, yields predominantly uncompetitive inhibition under these conditions in analogy with simple, inorganic anions. The second group, represented by 1,2,4-triazole and chloral hydrate gives rise to essentially noncompetitive inhibition patterns, whereas phenol, representing the third group, is a competitive inhibitor of CO2 hydration. These diverse inhibition patterns are discussed in terms of the kinetic mechanism scheme originally proposed by Steiner et al. (Steiner, H., Jonsson, B.-H. and Lindskog, S. (1975) Eur. J. Biochem. 59, 253-259.