Procyanidins, contained in many products abundant in human diet, exhibit high biological activity. However, this activity has not been fully explained at cellular and molecular levels. In this study, we determine the mechanism of interaction of procyanidin B3 with model lipid membrane. This mechanism was established on the basis of changes induced by B3 in the physical properties of lipid bilayer. The changes were investigated using steady state and time-resolved fluorescence, DSC, and FTIR. We show that procyanidin B3 causes changes in the arrangement of the polar heads of lipids, order of their acyl chains and the main lipid phase transition temperature. Furthermore, its presence in the membrane leads to a reduction in membrane dipole potential. Procyanidin B3 is anchored to membrane via hydrogen bonds formed between its OH groups and the PO2- and CO groups of lipids, causing changes in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions of the membrane.

Department of Fruit Vegetable and Plant Nutraceutical Technology Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Norwida 25 50 375 Wrocław Poland

Department of Physics and Biophysics Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Norwida 25 50 375 Wrocław Poland

J Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Dolejškova 3 Prague 8 18223 Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org