High kinetic stability of ZnII coordinated by the tris(histidine) unit of carbonic anhydrase towards solvolytic dissociation studied by affinity capillary electrophoresis

Abstract

Solvolytic dissociation rate constants (kd) of bovine carbonic anhydrase II (CA) and its metallovariants (M-CAs, M=CoII, NiII, CuII, ZnII, and CdII) were estimated by a ligand substitution reaction, which was monitored by affinity capillary electrophoresis to selectively detect the undissociated CAs in the reaction mixture. Using EDTA as the competing ligand for Zn-CA, the dissociation followed the unimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN1) mechanism with kd=1.0×10−7s−1 (pH7.4, 25°C). The corresponding solvolysis half-life (t1/2) was 80days, showing the exceptionally high kinetic stability of t Zn-CA, in contrast to the highly labile [ZnII(H2O)6]2+, where the water exchange rate (kex) is high. This behavior is attributed to the tetrahedral coordination geometry supported by the tris(histidine) unit (His3) of CA. In the case of Co-CA, it showed a somewhat larger kd value (5.7×10−7s−1, pH7.4, 25°C) even though it shares the same tetrahedral coordination environment with Zn-CA, suggesting that the d7 electronic configuration of CoII in the transition state of the dissociation is stabilized by the ligand field. Among M-CAs, only Ni-CA showed a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2) reaction path in its reaction with EDTA, implying that the large coordination number (6) of NiII in Ni-CA allows EDTA to form an EDTA-Ni-CA intermediate. Overall, kd values roughly correlated with kex values among M-CAs, with the kd value of Zn-CA deviating strongly from the trend and highlighting the exceptionally high kinetic stabilization of Zn-CA by the His3 unit.