Exploiting the lactose-GM3 interaction for drug delivery
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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Validation of Therapeutic Agent Conjugation to Polyvinyl Alcohol-Coated Medical Devices
Published on: November 29, 2024
Raghavendra Vasudeva Murthy1, Harikrishna Bavireddi, Madhuri Gade
1Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan Pune, 411021 (India).
Abstract:
Protein-protein and protein-carbohydrate interactions as a means to target the cell surface for therapeutic applications have been extensively investigated. However, carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions (CCIs) have largely been overlooked. Here, we investigate the concept of CCI-mediated drug delivery. Lactose-functionalized β-cyclodextrin (L-β-CD) hosting doxorubicin (Dox) was evaluated for site-specific delivery to cancer cells via interaction with GM3 , a cell-surface carbohydrate. The host-guest complex was evaluated in B16 melanoma cells, which express exceptionally high levels of GM3 , and acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) and mouse fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells, which lack GM3 on the cell surface. Doxorubicin (Dox) was delivered more efficiently into B16 cells compared with NIH-3T3 and THP-1 cells. In B16 cells pretreated with sialidase or sodium periodate, thus preventing CCI formation, drug uptake was significantly decreased. Taken together, the results of these studies strongly support CCI-mediated uptake via the GM3 -lactose interaction as the mechanism of controlled drug delivery.
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