Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors

This title is an exploration of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA) and its inhibitors (CAIs), focusing on its biochemical properties, mechanisms, and wide-ranging applications.

The book begins with an introduction to carbonic anhydrase, providing basic knowledge of its structure, function, and importance in various physiological processes. This sets the stage for understanding the enzyme’s role in catalysis and the principles underlying its inhibition. Subsequent chapters focus on the intricate process of drug design, highlighting the strategies used to develop effective CAIs, discussing the principles of drug design, computational approaches, and structure-based drug design, and presenting the technological advances that have revolutionised the field. These chapters provide readers with insight into the scientific methodologies and innovative techniques used to create potent inhibitors, emphasising the importance of precision and specificity in drug development.

The therapeutic applications of CAIs are discussed in the following section, which includes their use in the treatment of glaucoma and other eye conditions, their potential in cancer therapy, and their applications in the treatment of neurological disorders, illustrating the versatility and efficacy of these inhibitors in various medical contexts. Beyond medical applications, the book also addresses the industrial and environmental uses of CAIs. The last part of the book explores how CAIs can be used in processes such as carbon capture and sequestration, highlighting their importance in addressing global environmental challenges.

Finally, the book focuses on future directions for biotechnological and pharmacological applications, providing an overview of ongoing research and emerging trends. This book is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and students, offering an in-depth understanding of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and their multiple applications.

Neera Raghav
Dr. Raghav completed her PhD in Chemistry and has dedicated 30 years to the teaching profession. She has been working as a Professor since 2011 in the Department of Chemistry at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India. Her research interests include the synthesis and evaluation of enzyme inhibitors. Several of her research papers have been published in leading national and international journals. Her research group has filed a number of patents in the field of enzyme inhibitors and drug delivery systems—one has been granted, and others are currently under review.

Claudiu T. Supuran
Dr. Supuran has been a Professor of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Florence, Italy, since 1995. He completed his PhD at the University of Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, and at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of La Plata, Argentina, and at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

His main research interest lies in the medicinal chemistry and biochemistry of carbonic anhydrases, a field in which he has made significant contributions. These include the design of numerous novel classes of enzyme inhibitors and activators, elucidation of their mechanisms of action at the molecular level, discovery of new isoforms and their roles in various diseases (such as cancer, obesity, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and cognitive disorders), as well as the discovery and characterization of carbonic anhydrases from diverse organisms (including bacteria, fungi, corals, and non-human vertebrates).

Additional research interests include the X-ray crystallography of metalloenzymes, heterocyclic chemistry, the chemistry of sulfonamides, metal-based drugs, cyclooxygenases, serine proteases, matrix metalloproteinases, bacterial proteases, and amino acid derivatives. He has published more than 2,300 papers in these areas, and his Hirsch index is 170. One of the compounds discovered in his laboratory (SLC-0111) is currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of advanced metastatic solid tumors.