title: Bioactive albumin-based carriers for tumour chemotherapy.
abstract: Proteins are posed as the natural counterpart of the synthetic polymers for the development of drug delivery systems and few of them, have been regarded safe for drug delivery purposes by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Serum albumin is the most abundant protein in human blood. Interest in the exploration of pharmaceutical applications of albumin-based drug delivery carriers, especially for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents, has increased in recent years. Albumin has several advantages over synthetic polymers, as it is biocompatible, biodegradable, has low cytotoxicity and has an excellent binding capacity with various drugs. Micro- and nano-carriers not only protect active pharmaceutical ingredients against degradation, but also offer a prolonged release of drugs in a controlled fashion. Since existing tumour chemotherapeutic agents neither target tumour cells, nor are they specific to tumour cells, a slow release of drugs from carriers would be beneficial in targeting carcinogenic cells intracellularly. This article aims at providing an overview of pharmaceutical applications of albumin as a drug delivery carrier in tumour chemotherapy.
authors.forename: Yasser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shahzad
authors.forename: Ikram Ullah
authors.initials: IU
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Talib
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.lastname: Alamgeer
authors.forename: Christophe A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Syed A A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rizvi
authors.forename: Minja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, North-West University, South Africa. Y.shahzad@live.com.
authors.forename: Jeanetta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: du Plessis
mesh_terms: D000418:Albumins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011108:Polymers / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011108:Polymers