The International Conference on Carbonic Anhydrases is a scientific meeting held in three-year’s interval to stimulate discussion and cooperation among scientists studying many aspects of carbonic anhydrases (CAs).

CAs create a large, evolutionary old family of zinc metalloenzymes expressed in a broad spectrum of organisms from archaebacteria and eubacteria, through plants and lower vertebrates, to mammals including human. They are of fundamental physiological significance as catalyzators of reversible hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate ion and proton and via this activity participate in multitude of biological processes related to pH balance and ion transport such as respiration, bone resorption, formation of gastric acid and cerebrospinal fluid, renal acidification etc. They are also implicated in regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation and adhesion.

Abnormal expression and/or activity of CAs contribute to variety of human diseases including cancer. Sulfonamide CA inhibitors are useful as diuretics, or in the treatment of glaucoma, epilepsy, osteoporosis, neurological disorders, etc., and may potentially serve as diagnostic tools and anticancer drugs.

Seppo Parkkila
University of Tampere, Finland

Claudiu T. Supuran
University of Florence, Italy

Jochen Antel
Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Hannover, Germany

Gerhard Klebe
Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Marburg, Germany

Andrea Scozzafava
University of Florence, Italy

Erik Swenson
University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Richard  E. Tashian
University of Michigan, Ann Arbour, USA

Institute of Virology, Bratislava, Slovakia