Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in human blood plasma. It is produced in the liver. Albumin comprises about half of the blood serum protein. It is soluble and monomeric.
The gene for albumin is located on chromosome 4 and mutations in this gene can result in various anomalous proteins. The human albumin gene is 16,961 nucleotides long from the putative 'cap' site to the first poly(A) addition site. It is split into 15 exons which are symmetrically placed within the 3 domains that are thought to have arisen by triplication of a single primordial domain.
Albumin is synthesized in the liver as preproalbumin which has an N-terminal peptide that is removed before the nascent protein is released from the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The product, proalbumin, is in turn cleaved in the Golgi vesicles to produce the secreted albumin.
The reference range for albumin concentrations in blood is 30 to 50 g/L. It has a serum half-life of approximately 20 days. It has a molecular mass of 67 kDa.
