Tannic Acid Inhibits Protein Disulfide Isomerase, Platelet Activation and Thrombus Formation

Tannic acid (TA) was a polyphenol that harbors anti-oxidant capacity. A recent report implied that surface coating with TA might blunt thrombosis via altering the structure of fibrinogen. However, the effect of TA on platelet function and in vivo thrombus formation has not been reported. In this study, we showed that TA inhibits PDI activity and attenuates platelet activation.

To explore the effects of TA on platelet aggregation, gel-filtered human platelets from healthy human donors were pretreated with TA (10/30/50 μM) or vehicle (0.9% sodium chloride) before being stimulated by various agonists. Turbidity analyses on a Chronolog aggregometer showed that TA dose-dependently inhibited platelet aggregation induced by thrombin, SFLLRN, GYQGQV, collagen, CRP, U46619, and ristocetin. Next, we employed flow cytometry (FACS) to determine the role of TA in platelet activation, including α-granule secretion and integrin activation. Pretreatment of platelets with TA led to significant reductions in surface P-selectin expression and soluble fibrinogen binding, supporting the inhibition of diverse platelet activation pathways. Supportively, platelet spreading on immobilized fibrinogen was significantly suppressed by TA treatment. In addition, cell viability assay with Almar blue agent showed no detrimental impact of TA on the survival of platelets.

To ask whether the antiplatelet role of TA might be translated into an antithrombotic efficacy, we tested the effect of TA in both ex vivo and in vivo thrombosis models. Calcein-labeled human whole blood was perfused through microfluidic channels coated with collagen, and adherent platelets were visualized under a fluorescent microscopy. However, treatment with TA suppressed the number of adherent platelets under flow conditions. Moreover, in laser-induced mouse cremaster muscle arteries, administration of TA (5mg/kg) significantly reduced the size of forming thrombi compared with the vehicle. Verification of bleeding risk using tail truncation assay indicated no prolongation of bleeding time in mice receiving TA. Thus, TA shows an antiplatelet effect and may also attenuate thrombus formation.

To gain a mechanistic insight to the role of TA in platelet function, we performed a molecular docking screen of the structure of TA and platelet surface proteins using the Autodock Vina software, which displayed the binding of TA with protein disulfide isomerase at the enzymatic active center. We then measured the impact of TA on PDI reductase activity with the dieosin glutathione disulfide assay in vitro (di-GSSG), showing that TA significantly inhibited PDI activity in a concentration-dependent manner. The results were verified in platelets using the 3-(N-Maleimidylpropionyl) biocytin (MPB) labeling, which showed that TA abrogated thrombin-stimulated free thiol formation on platelet surface. Supportively, FACS demonstrated that TA significantly suppressed the binding of fluorescent-labeled PDI to Mn²⁺-activated platelet integrin β3. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that TA inhibits PDI activity and may become a novel antithrombotic agent.