Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-20-2020

Keywords

JMG

JAX Source

Commun Biol 2020 Apr 20; 3(1):181

Volume

3

Issue

1

First Page

181

Last Page

181

ISSN

2399-3642

PMID

32313072

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0903-7

Abstract

Albumin has an average plasma half-life of three weeks and is thus an attractive carrier to improve the pharmacokinetics of fused therapeutics. The half-life is regulated by FcRn, a cellular receptor that protects against intracellular degradation. To tailor-design the therapeutic use of albumin, it is crucial to understand how structural alterations in albumin affect FcRn binding and transport properties. In the blood, the last C-terminal residue (L585) of albumin may be enzymatically cleaved. Here we demonstrate that removal of the L585 residue causes structural stabilization in regions of the principal FcRn binding domain and reduces receptor binding. In line with this, a short half-life of only 3.5 days was measured for cleaved albumin lacking L585 in a patient with acute pancreatitis. Thus, we reveal the structural requirement of an intact C-terminal end of albumin for a long plasma half-life, which has implications for design of albumin-based therapeutics.

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