Interactions of tannic acid and its derivatives (ellagic and gallic acid) with calf thymus DNA and bovine serum albumin using spectroscopic method

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to study the interaction of chosen polyphenols (tannic, ellagic and gallic acids) with calf thymus DNA and bovine serum albumin (BSA) employing spectrofluorimetric technique. The fluorescence quenching of DNA-bound ethidium bromide (EB) and BSA-bound 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS) by phenolic acids has been examined. As BSA contains two tryptophan residues, the polyphenols influence on protein by measuring the changes in the fluorescence of BSA in the presence of phenolic acids was also evaluated. Our experiments prove that there is a direct interaction between phenols and DNA or BSA. The obtained data suggest that used acids can intercalate to DNA and interact strongly with BSA. The strongest interactions were observed between DNA and ellagic acid and between BSA and tannic acid. The conformational changes were revealed in DNA and BSA after incubation with tested phenolic acids and the extent depended on the phenol structure and the used concentration. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.