Carbonic anhydrase hybrid nanoflowers: From facile synthesis to their therapeutic prospects; the known, the unknown and the future

Abstract

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) (EC 4.2.1.1) is a ubiquitous enzyme present in nearly all life forms. This metal hydroxide nucleophilic enzyme contains distinctive active site architecture half of it is hydrophobic and the other half is hydrophilic. CA is encoded by a gene families of eight homologs, all of which shows considerable variation in their subcellular localization, tissue distribution, and catalytic activities. The high catalytic rate, relative stability, simple method of expression and purification, and extensive physiological importance have made it an ideal candidate to be incorporated into various applications in biotechnology. However, the poor durability and operational stability of CA still limit its real-time applications. Recently, a class of flower-like, effectively oriented, and robust-structured materials, organic–inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (HNFs), has taken significant attention in the medical field owing to their eccentric structure and multifunctional characteristics. Likewise, heaps of progress in exploring the depths of this field have been made shortly. Thus, the synthesis of CA inorganic hybrid structures at the nanoscale with relatively high efficiency, catalytic, and stabilizing ability compared to free enzymes can have a bright future in various therapeutic prospects. This review highlights the structural and physicochemical features of CA, recently cited protocols for CA activity analysis, and the recent nanobiotechnology hike of constructing carbonic anhydrase (CA)-loaded immobilized structures for different prospects ranging from biosensing-based applications to their CO2 sequestration activities. Furthermore, existing challenges and future directions are also presented.