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Since the asialoglycoprotein receptor (also known as the "Ashwell-Morell receptor" or ASGPR) was discovered as the first cellular mammalian lectin, numerous drug delivery systems have been developed and several gene delivery systems associated with multivalent ligands for liver disease targeting are undergoing clinical trials. The success of these systems has facilitated the further study of new ligands with comparable or higher affinity and less synthetic complexity. Herein, we designed two novel trivalent ligands based on the esterification of tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (TRIS) followed by the azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition with azido N-acetyl-d-galactosamine. The presented triazolyl glycoconjugates exhibited good binding to ASGPR, which was predicted using in silico molecular docking and assessed by a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. Moreover, we demonstrated the low level of in vitro cytotoxicity, as well as the optimal spatial geometry and the required amphiphilic balance, for new, easily accessible ligands. The conjugate of a new ligand with Cy5 dye exhibited selective penetration into HepG2 cells in contrast to the ASGPR-negative PC3 cell line.

In-beam γ-ray spectroscopy measurements provide important information on coexisting normal and intruder configurations in lead nuclei. However, in these experiments the yrast states are preferentially populated so that in many cases nothing is known about non-yrast states that are essential for obtaining a fuller understanding. Complementary experiments designed to study fine structure in the a decays of polonium nuclei have led to the discovery of low-spin non-yrast states in the daughter lead nuclei, while higher-spin states can be identified through the γ decays of isomeric states. The α-decay studies have the additional benefit of allowing information on configuration mixing in the polonium parents to be deduced from the measured hindrance factors.