In-gel detection of esterase-like albumin activity: Characterization of esterase-free sera albumin and its putative role as non-invasive biomarker of hepatic fibrosis

Albumin is a globular and un-glycosylated multifunctional plasma protein and thus correlated with several human diseases. Owing to esterase contamination, albumin levels are usually misleading. In this study, we propose methodical accuracy for albumin estimation taking healthy and fibrotic rats. Liver fibrosis in rats was generated by N′-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) (10 mg/kg body weight) within three weeks followed by its confirmation through H&E and immunohistochemical staining for α-SMA expression. Animal sera were screened by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (native-PAGE) (7.5%). In-gel esterase-like albumin activity was detected using α- and β-naphthyl acetate (5.58 × 10−3 mM; pH 7.5) as substrate. Sera albumin was purified from unstained PA gel-slices through electroelution. Subsequent to conformation of albumin purity by its molecular weight determination using SDS-PAGE (10%) and peptide mass fingerprinting by MALDI-TOF-MS, samples were treated with different concentrations of urea. Urea-treated albumins were screened for esterase activity, conformational change and, albumin levels by immunoblotting. Our results demonstrate that esterase-like albumin activity in rat sera albumin is located in domain-III. The esterase-like activity remains detectable up to 4 M urea, which diminishes with increasing urea concentrations. Further, immunoblotting of urea-treated albumin samples displays a significant decline in purified protein bands, indicating hypoalbuminemia during hepatic fibrosis in rats. In conclusion, the present approach of albumin separation and estimation is of potential interest and may be recommended for diagnostic purposes.