Nanostructured glycopolymer augmented liposomes to elucidate carbohydrate-mediated targeting

Carbohydrate receptors on alveolar macrophages are attractive targets for receptor-mediated delivery of nanostructured therapeutics. In this study, we employed reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization to synthesize neoglycopolymers, consisting of mannose-and galactose methacrylate-based monomers copolymerized with cholesterol methacrylate for use in functional liposome studies. Glycopolymer-functional liposomes were employed to elucidate macrophage mannose receptor ( CD206) and macrophage galactose-type lectin ( CD301) targeting in both primary macrophage and immortal macrophage cell lines. Expression of CD206 and CD301 was observed to vary significantly between cell lines ( murine alveolar macrophage, murine bone marrow-derived macrophage, RAW264.7, and MH-S), which has significant implications in in vitro targeting and uptake studies. Synthetic glycopolymers and glycopolymer augmented liposomes demonstrated specific receptor-mediated uptake in a manner dependent on carbohydrate receptor expression. These results establish a platform capable of probing endogenous carbohydrate receptor-mediated targeting via glycofunctional nanomaterials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.