title: Redox properties of serum albumin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oxidative damage results in protein modification, and is observed in numerous diseases. Human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant circulating protein in the plasma, exerts important antioxidant activities against oxidative damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present review focuses on the characterization of chemical changes in HSA that are induced by oxidative damage, their relevance to human pathology and the most recent advances in clinical applications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The antioxidant properties of HSA are largely dependent on Cys34 and its contribution to the maintenance of intravascular homeostasis, including protecting the vascular endothelium under disease conditions related to oxidative stress. Recent studies also evaluated the susceptibility of other important amino acid residues to free radicals. The findings suggest that a redox change in HSA is related to the oxidation of several amino acid residues by different oxidants. Further, Cys34 adducts, such as S-nitrosylated and S-guanylated forms also play an important role in clinical applications. On the other hand, the ratio of the oxidized form to the normal form of albumin (HMA/HNA), which is a function of the redox states of Cys34, could serve as a useful marker for evaluating systemic redox states, which would be useful for the evaluation of disease progression and therapeutic efficacy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review provides new insights into our current understanding of the mechanism of HSA oxidation, based on in vitro and in vivo studies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Serum Albumin.
authors: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Anraku
authors: Victor Tuan Giam
authors: VT
authors: Chuang
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Maruyama
authors: Masaki
authors: M
authors: Otagiri
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D012709:Serum Albumin
keywords: AOPP; Antioxidant; CRF; Cysteine-34; HD; HMA; HNA; HSA; Human serum albumin; MCO; MFI; Oxidation; ROS; Redox; S-nitrosylation; VEGF; advanced oxidized protein product; chronic renal failure; hemodialysis; human mercapto albumin; human non-mercapto albumin; human serum albumin; mean fluorescence intensity; metal catalyzed oxidation; reactive oxygen species; vascular endothelial cell growth factor