Crystal structure of human soluble adenylate cyclase reveals a distinct, highly flexible allosteric bicarbonate binding pocket.

Soluble adenylate cyclases catalyse the synthesis of the second messenger cAMP through the cyclisation of ATP and are the only known enzymes to be directly activated by bicarbonate. Here, we report the first crystal structure of the human enzyme that reveals a pseudosymmetrical arrangement of two catalytic domains to produce a single competent active site and a novel discrete bicarbonate binding pocket. Crystal structures of the apo protein, the protein in complex with α,ß-methylene adenosine 5'-triphosphate (AMPCPP) and calcium, with the allosteric activator bicarbonate, and also with a number of inhibitors identified using fragment screening, all show a flexible active site that undergoes significant conformational changes on binding of ligands. The resulting nanomolar-potent inhibitors that were developed bind at both the substrate binding pocket and the allosteric site, and can be used as chemical probes to further elucidate the function of this protein.

Comparison and analysis of zinc and cobalt-based systems as catalytic entities for the hydration of carbon dioxide.

In nature, the zinc metalloenzyme carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) efficiently catalyzes the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to bicarbonate under physiological conditions. Many research efforts have been directed towards the development of small molecule mimetics that can facilitate this process and thus have a beneficial environmental impact, but these efforts have met very limited success. Herein, we undertook quantum mechanical calculations of four mimetics, 1,5,9-triazacyclododedacane, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododedacane, tris(4,5-dimethyl-2-imidazolyl)phosphine, and tris(2-benzimidazolylmethyl)amine, in their complexed form either with the Zn(2+) or the Co(2+) ion and studied their reaction coordinate for CO2 hydration. These calculations demonstrated that the ability of the complex to maintain a tetrahedral geometry and bind bicarbonate in a unidentate manner were vital for the hydration reaction to proceed favorably. Furthermore, these calculations show that the catalytic activity of the examined zinc complexes was insensitive to coordination states for zinc, while coordination states above four were found to have an unfavorable effect on product release for the cobalt counterparts.

Carbon dioxide capture capacity of sodium hydroxide aqueous solution.

The present paper investigates the various features of NaOH aqueous solution when applied as an absorbent to capture carbon dioxide (CO(2)) emitted with relatively high concentration in the flue gas. The overall CO(2) absorption reaction was carried out according to consecutive reaction steps that are generated in the order of Na(2)CO(3) and NaHCO(3). The reaction rate and capture efficiency were strongly dependent on the NaOH concentration in the Na(2)CO(3) production range, but were constant in the NaHCO(3) production step, irrespective of the NaOH concentration. The amount of CO(2) absorbed in the solution was slightly less than the theoretical value, which was ascribed to the low trona production during the reaction and the consequent decrease in CO(2) absorption in the NaOH solution. The mass ratio of absorbed CO(2) that participated in the Na(2)CO(3), NaHCO(3), and trona production reactions was calculated to be 20:17:1, respectively.

Toward a small molecule, biomimetic carbonic anhydrase model: theoretical and experimental investigations of a panel of zinc(II) aza-macrocyclic catalysts.

A panel of five zinc-chelated aza-macrocycle ligands and their ability to catalyze the hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, H(2)O + CO(2) → H(+) + HCO(3)(­), was investigated using quantum-mechanical methods and stopped-flow experiments. The key intermediates in the reaction coordinate were optimized using the M06-2X density functional with aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. Activation energies for the first step in the catalytic cycle, nucleophilic CO(2) addition, were calculated from gas-phase optimized transition-state geometries. The computationally derived trend in activation energies was found to not correspond with the experimentally observed rates. However, activation energies for the second, bicarbonate release step, which were estimated using calculated bond dissociation energies, provided good agreement with the observed trend in rate constants. Thus, the joint theoretical and experimental results provide evidence that bicarbonate release, not CO(2) addition, may be the rate-limiting step in CO(2) hydration by zinc complexes of aza-macrocyclic ligands. pH-independent rate constants were found to increase with decreasing Lewis acidity of the ligand-Zn complex, and the trend in rate constants was correlated with molecular properties of the ligands. It is suggested that tuning catalytic efficiency through the first coordination shell of Zn(2+) ligands is predominantly a balance between increasing charge-donating character of the ligand and maintaining the catalytically relevant pK(a) below the operating pH.

[Personal preparation of bicarbonate solutions--cost comparison and quality control]. / Selbstherstellung von Hydrogenkarbonatlösungen--Kostenvergleich und Qualitätskontrolle.

Haemodialysis with bicarbonate dialysate is well established in the treatment of chronic renal failure. The costs of bicarbonate haemodialysis are higher than acetate haemodialysis. Commercially available bicarbonate solutions are sold from AS 129.- to AS 189.- per 8 litre canister (December 1987). The self-prepared solution contains 650 g bicarbonate (for AS 8.-) in 8 litres of deionized water. In 10 patients on regular dialysis treatment haemodialysis were performed with both commercially available and self-prepared solutions for a 3 week period. Blood and dialysate samples were obtained before and 10 minutes, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h and 4 h after starting haemodialysis. Osmolality, Na+, K+, Cl-, pO2, pCO2 and pH were measured in the dialysate and in the serum, as well as serum lactate levels. There were no significant differences and the biochemical changes were similar with both preparations. In our centre with about 4000 bicarbonate dialyses yearly, AS 500,000.- to AS 700,000.- could be saved by self preparation of the dialysate.