Review

You have free access to this content

Pharmaceutical aspects of the recombinant human serum albumin dimer: Structural characteristics, biological properties, and medical applications

  1. Kazuaki Taguchi1,
  2. Victor Tuan Giam Chuang2,
  3. Toru Maruyama1,3,
  4. Masaki Otagiri1,4,5,*

Article first published online: 9 MAY 2012

DOI: 10.1002/jps.23181

Issue

Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Special Issue: Dedicated to Professor Valentino Stella

Volume 101, Issue 9, pages 3033–3046, September 2012

Total views since publication: 530

Additional Information

How to Cite

Taguchi, K., Giam Chuang, V. T., Maruyama, T. and Otagiri, M. (2012), Pharmaceutical aspects of the recombinant human serum albumin dimer: Structural characteristics, biological properties, and medical applications. J. Pharm. Sci., 101: 3033–3046. doi: 10.1002/jps.23181

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biopharmaceutics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan

  2. 2

    School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia

  3. 3

    Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan

  4. 4

    Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan

  5. 5

    DDS Research Institute, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan

*DDS Research Institute, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan. Telephone: +81-96-326-3887; Fax: +81-96-326-3887

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 JUL 2012
  2. Article first published online: 9 MAY 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 18 APR 2012
  4. Manuscript Revised: 12 APR 2012
  5. Manuscript Received: 14 FEB 2012

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (456K)

Keywords:

  • albumin;
  • biomaterials;
  • disposition;
  • drug delivery systems;
  • nanotechnology;
  • physicochemical properties;
  • polymeric biomaterials

Abstract

Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in the blood. It is clinically used in the treatment of severe hypoalbuminemia and as a plasma expander. The use of albumins as a carrier for drugs is currently being developed, and some are now in the preclinical and clinical trial stages. The main technologies for utilizing an albumin as a drug carrier are protein fusion, polymerization and surface modification, and so on. Among these technologies, albumin dimerization has wide clinical applications as a plasma expander as well as a drug carrier. Despite the fact that many reports have appeared on drugs using an albumin dimer as a carrier, our knowledge of the characteristics of the albumin dimer itself is incomplete. In this review, we summarize the structural characteristics of recombinant albumin dimers produced by two methods, namely, chemical linkage with 1,6-bis(maleimido)hexane and genetically linked with an amino acid linker, and the physicochemical characteristics and biological properties of these preparations. Finally, the potential for pharmaceutical applications of albumin dimers in clinical situations is discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 101:3033–3046, 2012

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (456K)