Binding Of Tannic Acid Research Articles

Increased adhesion between neutral lipid bilayers: interbilayer bridges formed by tannic acid

Tannic acid (TA) is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound that aggregates membranes and neutral phosolipid vesicles and precipitates many proteins. This study analyzes TA binding to lipid membranes and the ensuing aggregation. The optical density of dispersions of phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles increased upon the addition of TA and electron micrographs showed that TA caused the vesicles to aggregate and form stacks of tightly packed disks. Solution calorimetry showed that TA bound to PC bilayers with a molar binding enthalpy of -8.3 kcal/mol and zeta potential measurements revealed that TA imparted a small negative charge to PC vesicles. Monolayer studies showed that TA bound to PC with a dissociation constant of 1.5 microM and reduced the dipole potential by up to 250 mV. Both the increase in optical density and decrease in dipole potential produced by TA could be reversed by the addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone, a compound that chelates TA by providing H-bond acceptor groups. NMR, micropipette aspiration, and x-ray diffraction experiments showed that TA incorporated into liquid crystalline PC membranes, increasing the area per lipid molecule and decreasing the bilayer thickness by 2 to 4%. 2H-NMR quadrupole splitting measurements also showed that TA associated with a PC molecule for times much less than 10(-4) s. In gel phase bilayers, TA caused the hydrocarbon chains from apposing monolayers to fully interdigitate. X-ray diffraction measurements of both gel and liquid crystalline dispersions showed that TA, at a critical concentration of about 1 mM, reduced the fluid spacing between adjacent bilayers by 8-10 A. These data place severe constraints on how TA can pack between adjacent bilayers and cause vesicles to adhere. We conclude that TA promotes vesicle aggregation by reducing the fluid spacing between bilayers by the formation of transient interbilayer bridges by inserting its digallic acid residues into the interfacial regions of adjacent bilayers and spanning the interbilayer space.

Tannic acid binding of cell surfaces in normal, premalignant, and malignant squamous epithelium of the human uterine cervix.

Alterations in tannic acid (TA) binding capacity of cell surface carbohydrates in normal, premalignant, and malignant squamous epithelium of the human uterine cervix have been studied using electron microscopic visualization in combination with microdensitometric evaluation. While in normal epithelium there is distinct binding in four to five cell layers of the deep intermediate zone, cells of carcinoma in situ and invasive cancer lesions lack TA binding. In moderate dysplasia an intermediate reacting pattern is found. Deep intermediate cells in areas bordering the carcinoma in situ lesions do not show any binding, although their ultrastructure cannot be distinguished from similar cells in normal tissue. The TA deposition within the deep intermediate zone is probably related to the presence here of glycoprotein-containing membrane-coating granules. The finding that TA binding discriminates between cells in normal squamous epithelium and morphologically normal cells in juxtaposition with lesional areas in premalignant and malignant epithelium opens the possibility for a more reliable cytologic diagnosis of cervical epithelial neoplasia.

On the mechanism of inactivation of Chikungunya virus by tannic acid.

The mechanism of the action of tannic acid (TA) Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was investigated. Both infectivity and hemagglutination (HA) activity of CHIKV were reduced by treatment with TA in vitro. Aggregation of the TA-treated virus particles was observed by electron microscopy. The reaction was reversible, depending on the pH of the mixture. However, mere dilution of the TA-virus mixture or addition of other protein, such as bovine serum albumin, did not restore the lost infectivity. TA also suppressed the infectivity of RNA extracted from the virus and the HA activity of the viral membrane. The affinity between TA and CHIKV structural proteins (E1, E2, and C) was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in a discontinuous buffer system and the order of affinity was found to be C greater than E1 greater than E2. Specific conditions for binding of TA to each of the virus proteins were investigated.

Tannic acid-metal salt sequences for light and electron microscopic localization of complex carbohydrates.

Use of tannic acid (TA), in sequence with ferric chloride, uranyl acetate or gold chloride resulted in staining of selective but sometimes different sites in paraffin sections. TA-uranyl acetate of TA-ferric chloride stained sites rich in complex carbohydrates, wherease TA-gold chloride stained the collagen of various connective tissues different shades of red-purple to gray-black. Applied to epoxy-embedded thin sections of tissues fixed with glutaraldehyde and not post-osmicated, TA-uranyl acetate and TA-ferric chloride imparted density to subcellular sites known to contain a high concentration of mucosubstances, such as secretory granules and cisternae of the Golgi complex of certain cells. TA-gold chloride proved unsatisfactory for ultracytochemistry because of its tendency to form globular precipitates on thin sections. The effect of blockage procedures at the light microscopic level indicated that vicinal glycols are not required for binding of TA to tissue sites. Electrostatic forces were shown to be of minimal significance, whereas hydrogen bonding appeared to play a part in both TA-tissue and TA-metal binding mechanisms.

Tannic Acid as a Mordant for Heavy Metal Stains

Tannic acid used concomitantly with glutaraldehyde fixation results in an increase in the electron-density and apparent thickness of the outer leaflet of cell-surface membranes (1,2). This effect has been attributed to binding of tannic acid to cell-surface proteins and subsequent chelation of heavy-metal ions (2). In isolated capillary endothelium (3), the localization and degree of this enhanced density varies according to the point at which cells are treated with tannic acid during fixation and staining and with selective omission of stains and fixativesTreatment of cells with tannic acid(2%) and glutaraldehyde (2%)followed by osmium(l%) and counterstaining of sections (saturated uranyl acetate-10 min., Reynold's lead citrate-3 min.) results in an increase in thickness and electron density of the outer leaflet of all surface membranes including those comprising micropinocytic caveolae (fig. 1). When cells are fixed with glutaraldehyde prior to tannic acid treatment, both inner and outer leaflets of both surface and intracellular membrane systems exhibit an increase in density and apparent thickness (fig. 2).