Comparative affinity of synthetic multi-antennary galactosyl derivatives for the Gal/GalNAc receptor of rat hepatocytes and peritoneal macrophages.

The binding affinity of synthetic bi- and triantennary galactose ligands (Kichler, A. and Schuber, F. (1995) Glycoconj. Chem., 12, 275 281) has been determined for the Gal/GalNAc receptors of rat hepatocytes and macrophages. The highest affinities were observed with the triantennary structures, in agreement with the clustering effect known to occur with more complex oligosaccharide structures. However, these ligands present very similar affinities for the receptors of both cell types and thus lack the necessary selectivity for specific hepatocyte targeting.