Histidine 64 in human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II) functions in the catalytic pathway of CO(2) hydration as a shuttle to transfer protons between the zinc-bound water and bulk water. Catalysis of the exchange of (18)O between CO(2) and water, measured by mass spectrometry, is dependent on this proton transfer and was decreased more than 10-fold for H64A HCA II compared with wild-type HCA II. The loss of catalytic activity of H64A HCA II could be rescued by 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), an exogenous proton donor, in a saturable process with a maximum activity of 40% of wild-type HCA II. The crystal structure of the rescued complex at 1.6 A resolution shows 4-MI bound in the active-site cavity of H64A HCA II, through pi stacking interactions with Trp 5 and H-bonding interactions with water molecules. In this location, 4-MI is about 12 A from the zinc and approximates the observed "out" position of His 64 in the structure of the wild-type enzyme. 4-MI appears to compensate for the absence of His 64 and rescues the catalytic activity of the H64A HCA II mutant. This result strongly suggests that the out conformation of His 64 is effective in the transfer of protons between the zinc-bound solvent molecule and solution.

Carbonic anhydrase V (CA V) is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes the hydration of CO2 to produce bicarbonate and a proton. The catalytic properties of wild-type murine CA V suggest the presence of a proton shuttle residue having pKa = 9.2, the role of which is to transfer a proton from zinc-bound water to solution in the hydration direction to regenerate the zinc hydroxide form of the enzyme. Two likely candidates for shuttle residues are the tyrosines at positions 64 and 131 in the active site cavity. The crystal structure of wild-type carbonic anhydrase V [Boriack-Sjodin et al. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92, 10949-10953] shows that the side chain of Tyr 64 is forced into an orientation pointing away from the zinc by Phe 65, although Tyr 131 is oriented toward the zinc. We have prepared mutants of murine CA V replacing both Tyr 64 and Tyr 131 with His and Ala and investigated the proton shuttle mechanism using stopped-flow spectrophotometry and the depletion of 18O from CO2 measured by mass spectrometry. Experiments with both single and double mutations showed that neither position 64 nor position 131 was a prominent site for proton transfer. However, a double mutant of CA V containing the two replacements, Tyr 64-->His and Phe 65-->Ala, demonstrated enhanced proton transfer with an apparent pKa of 6.8 and maximal contribution to kcat of 2.2 x 10(5) s-1. In addition to the altered catalytic properties, the crystal structure of the His 64/Ala 65 double mutant strongly suggested proton transfer by His 64 after removal of the steric hindrance of Phe 65. This is the first structure-based design of an efficient proton transfer site in an enzyme.

Maximal turnover rates for the hydration of CO2 and the depletion of 18O from CO2 catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase III (CA III) and carbonic anhydrase V (CA V) are limited by proton transfer involving zinc-bound water or hydroxide in the active site. We have investigated the capacity of glutamic and aspartic acids at position 64 in human CA III and murine CA V to act as proton shuttles in this pathway. The distance from the Calpha of position 64 to the zinc is near 9.5 A in the crystal structures of both CA III and CA V. Rates of intramolecular proton transfer between these proton shuttle groups and the zinc-bound water molecule were estimated as the predominant rate-contributing step in the catalytic turnover kcat in the hydration of CO2 measured by stopped flow and in the 18O exchange between CO2 and water measured by mass spectrometry. We found that both glutamate and aspartate residues at position 64 are efficient proton shuttles in HCA III. The rate constant for intramolecular proton transfer from either residue to zinc-bound hydroxide is 4 x 10(4) s-1, about 20-fold greater than that of the wild type which has lysine at position 64. When the active site residue Phe 198 in human CA III was replaced with Leu, measurement of catalysis showed that Glu 64 retained but Asp 64 lost its capacity to act as a proton shuttle. These observations were supported in studies of catalysis by murine CA V which contains Leu 198; here again, Glu 64 acted as a proton shuttle, but Asp 64 did not. Phe 198 in HCA III is thus a significant factor in the capacity of the active site to sustain proton transfer, possibly through its stabilization of hydrogen-bonded water bridges that enhance proton translocation from both Glu and Asp at position 64 to the zinc-bound hydroxide.

Carbonic anhydrase VII (CA VII) appears to be the most highly conserved of the active mammalian carbonic anhydrases. We have characterized the catalytic activity and inhibition properties of a recombinant murine CA VII. CA VII has steady-state constants similar to two of the most active isozymes of carbonic anhydrase, CA II and IV; also, it is very strongly inhibited by the sulfonamides ethoxzolamide and acetazolamide, yielding the lowest Ki values measured by the exchange of 18O between CO2 and water for any of the mammalian isozymes of carbonic anhydrase. The catalytic measurements of the hydration of CO2 and the dehydration of HCO3- were made by stopped-flow spectrophotometry and the exchange of 18O using mass spectrometry. Unlike the other isozymes of this class of CA, for which Kcat/K(m) is described by the single ionization of zinc-bound water, CA VII exhibits a pH profile for Kcat/K(m) for CO2 hydration described by two ionizations at pKa 6.2 and 7.5, with a maximum approaching 8 x 10(7) M-1 s-1. The pH dependence of kcat/K(m) for the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate could also be described by these two ionizations, yielding a maximum of 71 M-1 s-1 at pH > 9. Using a novel method that compares rates of 18O exchange and dehydration of HCO3-, we assigned values for the apparent pKa at 6.2 to the zinc-bound water and the pKa of 7.5 to His 64. The magnitude of Kcat, its pH profile, 18O-exchange data for both wild-type and a H64A mutant, and inhibition by CuSO4 and acrolein suggest that the histidine at position 64 is functioning as a proton-transfer group and is responsible for one of the observed ionizations. A truncation mutant of CA VII, in which 23 residues from the amino-terminal end were deleted, has its rate constant for intramolecular proton transfer decreased by an order of magnitude with no change in Kcat/K(m). This suggests a role for the amino-terminal end in enhancing proton transfer in catalysis by carbonic anhydrase.