Carbonic Anhydrase IX Inhibitors: A Mini Review

Carbonic anhydrases inhibitors of human (h) (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) cytosolic isoforms hCA I and II, as well as transmembrane tumor-associated isoforms hCA IX and XII, we well illustrated isoforms hCA IX in details for all newly compounds have been synthesized and reported as recent human carbonic anhydrase inhibitors.The expression of CA IX is barely detectable in normal tissues but is greatly increased in hypoxic tumors such as those found in breast, cervical, and lung cancers. The up-regulation of CA IX in tumors has been associated with poor prognosis due to an increase in tumor aggressiveness, linked with its role in providing a survival mechanism for cancer cells within hypoxic microenvironments. As a result, CA IX has become an attractive target for developing anticancer agents due to its tumor-associated expression and potential for lowering the invasiveness and metastatic capability of the resulting cancer. This mini-review will have a broader focus, incorporating the most recent developments of CA IX inhibitors which are based on metal coordination/permeation, natural products, tannic acids, and coumarins/sulfonamides.