Application

Carbonic anhydrase from sigma has been used for the analysis of thermodynamic stability of the enzyme. The enzyme has also been used to generate CD₄⁺ T cell lines specific for carbonic anhydrase during the study of autoimmune pancreatitis in rat.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Carbonic anhydrase is a zinc metalloenzyme that has a molecular weight of approximately 30,000 Da. The enzyme catalyzes the hydration of carbon dioxide to carbonic acid. It is involved in vital physiological and pathological processes such as pH and CO₂ homeostasis, transport of bicarbonate and CO₂, biosynthetic reactions, bone resorption, calcification, and tumorigenicity. Therefore, this enzyme is an important target for inhibitors with clinical applications in pathologies such as glaucoma, epilepsy and Parkinson′s disease.

Unit Definition

One Wilbur-Anderson (W-A) unit will cause the pH of a 0.02 M Trizma buffer to drop from 8.3 to 6.3 per min at 0 °C. (One W-A unit is essentially equivalent to one Roughton-Booth unit.)