I. Introduction to Carbonic Anhydrase (CA) and to the Review 948 1. Introduction: Overview of CA as a Model 948 1.1. Value of Models 950 1.2. Objectives and Scope of the Review 950 2. Overview of Enzymatic Activity 950 3. Medical Relevance 951 II. Structure and Structure−Function Relationships of CA 953 4. Global and Active-Site Structure 953 4.1. Structure of Isoforms 953 4.2. Isolation and Purification 954 4.3. Crystallization 954 4.4. Structures Determined by X-ray Crystallography and NMR 955 4.4.1. Structures Determined by X-ray Crystallography 955 4.4.2. Structure Determined by NMR 955 4.5. Global Structural Features 963 4.6. Structure of the Binding Cavity 964 4.7. Zn II -Bound Water 965 5. Metalloenzyme Variants 966 6. Structure−Function Relationships in the Catalytic Active Site of CA 968 6.1. Effects of Ligands Directly Bound to Zn II 968 6.2. Effects of Indirect Ligands 969 7. Physical-Organic Models of the Active Site of CA 969 III. Using CA as a Model to Study Protein−Ligand Binding 970 8. Assays for Measuring Thermodynamic and Kinetic Parameters for Binding of Substrates and Inhibitors 970 8.1. Overview 970 8.

This paper reports dissociation constants and "effective molarities" (M eff ) for the intramolecular binding of a ligand covalently attached to the surface of a protein by oligo(ethylene glycol) (EG n ) linkers of different lengths (n = 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20), and compares these experimental values with theoretical estimates from polymer theory. As expected, the value of M eff is lowest when the linker is too short (n = 0) to allow the ligand to bind noncovalently at the active site of the protein without strain, is highest when the linker (n = 2) is the optimal length to allow such binding to occur, and decreases monotonically as the length increases past this optimal value (but, only by a factor of approximately eight from n = 2 to n = 20). These experimental results are not compatible with a model in which the single bonds of the linker are completely restricted when the ligand has bound non-covalently to the active site of the protein, but are quantitatively compatible with a model that treats the linker as a random-coil polymer. Calorimetry revealed that enthalpic interactions between the linker and the protein are not important in determining the thermodynamics of the system. Taken together, these results suggest that the manifestation of the linker in the thermodynamics of binding is exclusively entropic. The values of M eff are, theoretically, intrinsic properties of the EG n linkers, and can be used to predict the avidities of multivalent ligands with these linkers for multivalent proteins. The weak dependence of M eff on linker length suggests that multivalent ligands containing flexible linkers that are longer than the spacing between the binding sites of a multivalent protein will be effective in binding, and that the use of flexible linkers with length somewhat greater than the optimal distance between binding sites is a justifiable strategy for use in the design of multivalent ligands.

Amide and ester coupling reactions of ω-functionalized monolayer-protected gold cluster molecules (MPCs) are an exceptionally efficient avenue to a diverse variety of polyfunctionalized MPCs starting from a small subset of ω-functionalized materials. In this paper, coupling reactions have been employed to produce 13 MPCs bearing multiple copies of a diverse variety of structural groups. Detailed features of three of the 13 polyfunctionalized products are highlighted:  (a) stepwise coupling and deprotection reactions result in an MPC surrounded by ca. eight pendant tripeptides, (b) a preliminary Steady-State Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (SSEPR) experiment is described for MPCs bearing multiple spin labels (ca. 13/cluster), and (c) a polyelectron electrochemical reaction is described for an MPC bearing multiple (ca. 7/cluster) coupled phenothiazine derivatives. The coupling reactions substantially expand the available diversity of MPCs as polyfunctionalized chemical reagents platformed on a nanometer-sized central core.

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This paper describes a systematic study of the thermodynamics of association of bovine carbonic anhydrase II (BCA) and para-substituted benzenesulfonamides with chains of oligoglycine, oligosarcosine, and oligoethylene glycol of lengths of one to five residues. For all three of these series of ligands, the enthalpy of binding became less favorable, and the entropy less unfavorable, as the chain length of the ligands increased. The dependence on chain length of the enthalpy was almost perfectly compensated by that of the entropy; this compensation resulted in dissociation constants that were independent of chain length for the three series of ligands. Changes in heat capacity were independent of chain length for the three series and revealed that the amount of molecular surface area buried upon protein-ligand complexation did not increase with increasing chain length. Taken together, these data refute a model in which the chains of the ligands interact hydrophobically with the surface of BCA. To explain the data, a model is proposed based on decreasing "tightness" of the protein-ligand interface as the chain length of the ligand increases. This decreasing tightness, as the chain length increases, is reflected in a less favorable enthalpy (due to fewer van der Waals contacts) and a less unfavorable entropy (due to greater mobility of the chain) of binding for ligands with long chains than for those with short chains. Thus, this study demonstrates a surprising example of enthalpy/entropy compensation in a well-defined system. Understanding this compensation is integral to the rational design of high-affinity ligands for proteins.