Interference in the binding of ribosomes to reticular membranes by tannic acid

Abstract

The effect of tannic acid on the binding of polysomes to reticular membranes has been studied in Vitro. Treatment of chemically degranulated rough endoplasmic reticulum by tannic acid damages the binding sites both for free and bound polysomes on light membrane fraction, but those on heavy membrane fraction remain unaffected. Also, heavy fraction binds very poorly to hound polysomes both before and after the treatment with tannic acid. The damaging effect of tannic acid on ribosome-membrane interactions may be due to change in the conformation of proteins involved in the binding of these ribosomes to reticular membranes.