Structure-activity relationships of sulfonamide drugs and human carbonic anhydrase C: modeling of inhibitor molecules into the receptor site of the enzyme with an interactive computer graphics display.

We have analyzed the molecular interaction of 28 sulfonamide inhibitors with human carbonic anhydrase C (HCAC) using an interactive computer graphic display. Small aromatic sulfonamides gain most of their inhibitory power towards HCAC from the interaction of hydrogen bond acceptors at the para or meta positions with hydrophilic residues of the enzyme. Additional coordinated water molecules stabilize the complexes of heterocyclic sulfonamides (i.e., thiophenes, 1,3-thiazoles, and 1,3,4-thiadiazoles) with HCAC. We propose two different modes of binding of the heterocyclic ring with respect to the active site cleft: the heterocyclic sulfur atom of a 3,4-unsubstituted thiophene approaches the oxygen atom of a coordinated water molecule (sulfur "out"), whereas in 3,4-unsubstituted 1,3,4-thiadiazoles, the sulfur is in contact with a hydrophobic part of the receptor site (sulfur "in"). This proposal is consistent with crystallographic evidence. Sulfonamides with two aromatic or heterocyclic rings also interact with a hydrophobic pocket of the enzyme located greater than 10 A away from the active site metal Zn2+. We also discuss the possibility that the relative inactivity of thiazide diuretics is due to the steric interaction of the ortho chlorine atom with the enzyme receptor cavity.