School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Ave, 639798, Singapore, Singapore.
J Mater Chem B. 2019 Jan 21;7(3):357-367. doi: 10.1039/c8tb02477d. Epub 2018 Nov 20.
As the most abundant plasma protein, serum albumin has been extensively studied and employed for therapeutic applications. Despite its direct clinical use for the maintenance of blood homeostasis in various medical conditions, this review exclusively summarizes and discusses albumin-based bio-conjugates and assemblies as versatile bio-functional additives and carriers in biomedical applications. As one of the smallest-sized proteins in the human body, albumin is physiochemically stable and biochemically inert. Moreover, albumin is also endowed with abundant specific binding sites for numerous therapeutic compounds, which also endow it with superior bioactivities. Firstly, due to its small size and binding specificity, albumin alone or its derived assemblies can be utilized as competent drug carriers, which can deliver drugs through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect or actively target lesion sites through binding with gp60 and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) in tumor sites. Furthermore, its biochemical stability and inertness make it a safe and biocompatible coating material for use in biomedical applications. Albumin-based surface modifying additives can be used to functionalize both macro substrates (e.g. surfaces of medical devices or implants) and nanoparticle surfaces (e.g. drug carriers and imaging contrast agents). In this review, we elaborate on the synthesis and applications of albumin-based bio-functional coatings and drug carriers, respectively.
作为最丰富的血浆蛋白，血清白蛋白已被广泛研究并应用于治疗用途。尽管其直接临床用途是维持各种医疗情况下的血液内环境稳定，但本综述仅总结和讨论了基于白蛋白的生物缀合物和组装体作为生物多功能添加剂和载体在生物医学应用中的应用。作为人体内最小的蛋白质之一，白蛋白在物理化学上是稳定的，在生物化学上是惰性的。此外，白蛋白还具有丰富的特异性结合位点，可与许多治疗化合物结合，这也赋予了它优越的生物活性。首先，由于其体积小和结合特异性，白蛋白本身或其衍生的组装体可用作有效的药物载体，可通过增强的通透性和保留（EPR）效应将药物递送至体内，或通过与 gp60 和富含半胱氨酸的分泌型酸性蛋白（SPARC）在肿瘤部位结合而主动靶向病变部位。此外，其生化稳定性和惰性使其成为生物医学应用中安全且生物相容的涂层材料。基于白蛋白的表面修饰添加剂可用于功能化宏观基质（例如医疗器械或植入物的表面）和纳米颗粒表面（例如药物载体和成像造影剂）。在本综述中，我们分别详细阐述了基于白蛋白的生物功能涂层和药物载体的合成和应用。
