Immobilization of albumin binding domain (ABD) on Sepharose 4B and magnetic particle for efficient single-step purification of human serum albumin

Abstract

Human serum albumin (HSA) is an important protein in plasma with various biological functions in the human body. Due to its unique features in the binding and transfer of ligands and pharmaceutical molecules, HSA is extensively used in therapeutics and pharmaceutical approaches. Commercial albumin is produced by a multi-step process of plasma fractionation. However, this traditional method has some limitations such as risk of contamination, low quality, and quantity of the purified final protein. In this study, we developed two affinity chromatography platforms for the purification of human serum albumin. The recombinant albumin-binding domain (ABD) was expressed and purified using molecular biology techniques. Two types of commercial beads—Cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose 4B and amine-functionalized magnetic particles—were then functionalized with the recombinant ABD. Protein purification using chromatography columns demonstrated that HSA can be purified to 95 % purity in a single step. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed structural similarities in HSA purified through affinity chromatography and fractionation using the Cohen method. Furthermore, the study of aspirin binding to HSA demonstrated that proteins purified via affinity chromatography and those fractionated by the Cohen method exhibited identical drug-binding affinities. The results of this study may have important implications for the clinical purification of human serum albumin. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.