Influences of different sugar ligands on targeted delivery of liposomes

Ligands are an important part of targeted drug delivery systems. Optimised lignads not only improve the target efficiency, but also enhance therapeutical effect of drugs. In our research, five sugar molecules (Mannose, Galactose, Glucose, Malt disaccharide, and Maltotriose) conjugated PEG(600)-DSPE were synthesised, of which polysaccharides were first discovered by us as sugar ligands to modify liposomes, which interacts with over expressive GLUT on cancer cells. DiO was encapsulated as fluorescent probe to evaluate their cellular uptake abilities of targeting C6 glioma cells, and the distribution in different visceral organs of rats. The results demonstrated that Malt disaccharide and Glucose-PEG(600)-DSPE had the strong efficiency of cellular uptake by C6 glioma cells. The distribution and accumulation of liposomes showed that different sugars modified liposomes could target different visceral organs in rats. It has provided a novel idea for ligand selectivity and optimisation of nanocarriers for tumour targeted therapy.