Polyvalent Display of Monosaccharides on Ferritin Protein Cage Nanoparticles for the Recognition and Binding of Cell‐Surface Lectins

Carbohydrate-lectin interactions are important in many biological events. Endogenous cell-surface lectins are attractive markers for the recognition and targeting. Human ferritin protein cage nanoparticles (HFPCNs) are prepared as delivery nanoplatforms and two different types of monosaccharide derivatives; maleimido group terminated-mannopyranoside and galactopyranoside. Uniform and polyvalent displays of mannoses or galactoses on the surface of HFPCNs are achieved by using site-specific thiol-maleimide Michael-type addition. Mannose- or galactose-displaying HFPCNs recognize and tightly bind to DC-SIGN or ASGP-R lectins on the surface of the mammalian cells, DCEK or HepG2 cells.