With the success of several clinical trials of products based on human serum albumin (HSA) and the rapid development of nanotechnology, HSA-based nanodrug delivery systems (HBNDSs) have received extensive attention in the field of nanomedicine. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive reviews exploring the broader scope of HBNDSs in biomedical applications beyond cancer therapy. To address this gap, this review takes a systematic approach. Firstly, it focuses on the crystal structure and the potential binding sites of HSA. Additionally, it provides a comprehensive summary of recent progresses in the field of HBNDSs for various biomedical applications over the past five years, categorized according to the type of therapeutic drugs loaded onto HSA. These categories include small-molecule drugs, inorganic materials and bioactive ingredients. Finally, the review summarizes the characteristics and current application status of HBNDSs in drug delivery, and also discusses the challenges that need to be addressed for the clinical transformation of HSA formulations and offers future perspectives in this field.
Keywords: binding sites; biomedical applications; drug delivery; human serum albumin.