Albumin is a soluble and globular monomeric protein encoded by chromosome 4 that comprises about half of the protein found in blood serum. It functions as a carrier protein for steroids, fatty acids, and thyroid hormones as well as stabilizing extracellular fluid volume. Gene mutations result in various anomalous proteins. Albumin is synthesized in the liver as a preproalbumin with an N-terminal peptide that is removed before the nascent protein is released from the rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This product, known as proalbumin, is in turn cleaved in the Golgi to generate the final, secreted albumin form. A paper monitoring the regulation of brain amyloid-beta levels by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) was published in Nature Medicine with the usage of the albumin antibody (1).
Proteomic researchers employed the albumin antibody in their explorations of the effects of plasma sodium concentration and acute loading on urinary protein excretion (2). Their proteomic assays included 2D-PAGE and TOF mass spectrometry coupled with peptide mass fingerprinting. Santangelo et al used the albumin antibody in immunohistochemical studies on hepatocyte identity and phenotype – they determined that hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HFN4a) plays a key role in repressing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) events (3). Tanimizu's group examined the effects of long-term culture of hepatoblasts on laminin with the albumin antibody and found delta-like (DLK) expression gives rise to multipotent hepatic progenitors capable of differentiating into a variety of cell types (hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, and pancreatic cells) (4). Tissue engineering studies with the albumin antibody have yielded both functional and properly 3D organized hepatic cells from embryonic stem (ES) cells (5). There, Wang et al paired a biodegradable polymer scaffold with a microgravity-simulating rotating bioreactor.
Novus Biologicals offers Albumin reagents for your research needs including:
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