Glycan multivalency effects toward albumin enable N-glycan-dependent tumor targeting

Multivalent interactions play an essential role in molecular recognition in living systems. These effects were employed to target tumor cells using albumin clusters bearing ∼10 molecules of asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans). Noninvasive near-infrared fluorescence imaging clearly revealed A431 tumors implanted in BALB/cA-nu/nu mice after 1 h in an N-glycan structure-dependent manner, thereby demonstrating the efficient use of glycan multivalency effects for tumor targeting in vivo.

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