Theoretical studies on substrate binding to the active site of carbonic anhydrase

The role of some amino acids and metal ions in the catalytic activity of carbonic anhydrase (carbonate dehydratase EC 4.2.1.1) has been investigated. The additional stabilization of the transition state complex was used as the qualitative measure of the effect of molecular surrounding on CO₂ hydration reaction calculated within the approximate CNDO /2 approach. The effect of the molecular environment has been simulated by inclusion into the SCF LCAO MO Hamiltonian, a term representing the interaction with a set of point charges and atomic dipoles centered on experimentally determined position of Zn²⁺ ion and all atoms of histidine 94, 96, 119 and threonine 199, 200 (or histidine 200 in the case of carbonic anhydrase B). The possible molecular mechanism of CO₂ hydration inside the active site has been also discussed.