New ASGPR-targeted ligands based on glycoconjugated natural triterpenoids.

New ligands for targeted delivery to the liver based on glycoconjugated natural triterpenoids are proposed. Simple chemical transformations of starting lupane triterpenes led to betulin or betulinic acid conjugates with N-acetyl-d-galactosamine linked through an isopropenyl fragment of the terpene skeleton. The obtained compounds were non-toxic in vitro to a series of cancer cell lines and normal cells. Molecular docking in silico and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy revealed a high specificity of the synthesized glycotriterpenoids to the asialogly-coprotein receptor of hepatocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]