Glycosylation-mediated targeting of carriers.

For safe and effective therapy, drugs should be delivered selectively to their target tissues or cells at an optimal rate. Drug delivery system technology maximizes the therapeutic efficacy and minimizes unfavorable drug actions by controlling their distribution profiles. Ligand-receptor binding is a typical example of specific recognition mechanisms in the body; therefore, ligand-modified drug carriers have been developed for active targeting based on receptor-mediated endocytosis. Among the various ligands reported thus far, sugar recognition is a promising approach for active targeting because of their high affinity and expression. Glycosylation has been applied for both macromolecular and liposomal carriers for cell-selective drug targeting. Recently, the combination of ultrasound exposure and glycosylated bubble liposomes has been developed. In this review, recent advances of glycosylation-mediated targeted drug delivery systems are discussed.