Serum Albumin in Health and Disease: Esterase, Antioxidant, Transporting and Signaling Properties

Abstract

Being one of the main proteins in the human body and many animal species, albumin plays a decisive role in the transport of various ions—electrically neutral and charged molecules—and in maintaining the colloidal osmotic pressure of the blood. Albumin is able to bind to almost all known drugs, as well as many nutraceuticals and toxic substances, largely determining their pharmaco- and toxicokinetics. Albumin of humans and respective representatives in cattle and rodents have their own structural features that determine species differences in functional properties. However, albumin is not only passive, but also an active participant of pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic processes, possessing a number of enzymatic activities. Numerous experiments have shown esterase or pseudoesterase activity of albumin towards a number of endogeneous and exogeneous esters. Due to the free thiol group of Cys34, albumin can serve as a trap for reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, thus participating in redox processes. Glycated albumin makes a significant contribution to the pathogenesis of diabetes and other diseases. The interaction of albumin with blood cells, blood vessels and tissue cells outside the vascular bed is of great importance. Interactions with endothelial glycocalyx and vascular endothelial cells largely determine the integrative role of albumin. This review considers the esterase, antioxidant, transporting and signaling properties of albumin, as well as its structural and functional modifications and their significance in the pathogenesis of certain diseases.

Effect of Ionic and Non-Ionic Surfactant on Bovine Serum Albumin Encapsulation and Biological Properties of Emulsion-Electrospun Fibers

“…Human albumin improves colloidal stability and has ligand-binding properties. Moreover, the ability to quickly diffuse across the tumor vessels makes it a good carrier for anticancer drugs [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Since it is one of the first proteins to appear on the implant surface, it also affects the initial cell adhesion.…”

Single Extracellular Vesicle Analysis Using Flow Cytometry for Neurological Disorder Biomarkers

“…To further validate the EV purity, the presence of albumin and ApoA-I, a component of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), was assessed by Western blot analysis. Albumin is the most abundant plasma protein ( Belinskaia et al, 2021 ), and lipoproteins are co-isolated with plasma EVs as major contaminants ( Brennan et al, 2020 ). Both albumin and ApoA-I, abundant in plasma, were removed entirely from EV samples ( Figure 2F ).…”

Spectroscopy, Structure, Biomacromolecular Interactions, and Antiproliferation Activity of a Fe(II) Complex With DPA-Bpy as Pentadentate Ligand

“…Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in plasma and is the main carrier of endogenous and exogenous ligands, including fatty acids (FAs), nucleic acids, hormones, metals, toxins, and drugs. Thus, HSA plays a relevant role as a drug carrier by influencing their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics ( Ishima et al, 2012 ; Belinskaia et al, 2021 ; De Simone et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, the fluorescence spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF MS spectra were used to study the binding mode and interaction between the synthesized complex and HSA.…”