Bovine serum albumin is a large globular protein having molecular weight of 66,000 Daltons with a good essential amino acid profile. Bovine serum albumin is a single polypeptide chain consisting of about 583 amino acid residues and no carbohydrate residues. At pH 5-7 it contains 17 intra - chain disulfide bridges and 1 sulfhydryl group. Its iso-electric point is reached at 25oC. In 1% solution, its pH is 5.2-6.4. Bovine serum albumin binds free fatty acids, other lipids and flavour compounds which can alter the heat denaturation of the protein. It is reported to partially unfold between 40 and 50oC, exposing non-polar residues on the surface and facilitating reversible protein-protein interactions. Phospholipid-protein-calcium complexes are formed at pH levels below the iso-electric point of the bovine serum albumin. Albumins are readily soluble in water and can only be precipitated by high concentrations of neutral salts such as ammonium sulphate. The solution stability of bovine serum albumin is very good as frozen aliquots. In fact, albumins are frequently used as stabilizers for other solubilized proteins/ labile enzymes. However, albumin is readily coagulated by heat when heated at 50°C and rapidly forms hydrophobic aggregates which do not revert to monomers upon cooling. Bovine serum albumin has been given little attention in respect to its role in the functional properties of whey protein concentrates and makes up only about 5% of the protein in whey protein concentrates. Its primary biological function has been associated with its lipid binding properties. It may play a role in mediating lipid oxidation. Since bovine serum albumin has been shown in-vitro to protect lipids against phenolic induced oxidation. Bovine serum albumin has been used as a component of cell media to regenerate plants from cultured guard cells and to provide for enhancement of production of plasminogen activator too. Bovine serum albumin has various biochemical applications such Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, immunoblots, and immunohistochemistry. In restriction digests, bovine serum albumin is used to stabilize some enzymes during digestion of DNA and to prevent adhesion of enzymes which do not affect the concerned enzyme stability. Bovine serum albumin is also commonly used to determine the quantity of other proteins, by comparing an unknown quantity of protein to known amounts of bovine serum albumin by lowry and Bradford protein assay methods. Bovine serum albumin is used because of its stability to increase signal in assays, its non interfering nature and its low production cost to obtain large quantities with readily purified from bovine blood as byproduct of the cattle industry.

About Author / Additional Info:
*Corresponding Author:
Dr. Kirti Rani,
Assistant Professor (II),
Amity Institute of Biotechnology,
Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida,
Sec-125, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Noida-201303 (UP), India.
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Email ID: krsharma@amity.edu, kirtisharma2k@rediffmail.