These are named for their egg-like coagulation property. Structure The 3D structure of human serum albumin has been determined by X-ray crystallography to a resolution of . Albumin is a 65–70 kDa protein. Albumin comprises three homologous domains that assemble to form a heart-shaped protein. Each domain is a product of two subdomains that possess common structural motifs. The principal regions of ligand binding to human serum albumin are located in hydrophobic cavities in subdomains IIA and IIIA, which exhibit similar chemistry. Structurally, the serum albumins are similar, each domain containing five or six internal disulfide bonds. Forensic uses Worldwide, certain traditional Chinese medicines contain wild bear bile, banned under CITES legislation. Dip sticks, similar to common pregnancy tests, have been developed to detect the presence of bear albumin in traditional medicine products, indicating that bear bile had been used in their creation. Terminology Albumin is pronounced ; formed from Latin: albumen "(egg) white; dried egg white". See also Cohn process (human serum albumin purification method) Serum albumin Bovine serum albumin Human serum albumin References External links The Albumin website Albumin binding prediction PDBe-KB provides an overview of all the structure information available in the PDB for Human Serum albumin. Blood proteins A