In Silico-Aided Design of a Glycan Ligand of Sialoadhesin for in Vivo Targeting of Macrophages

Cell-specific delivery of therapeutic agents using ligand targeting is gaining interest because of its potential for increased efficacy and reduced side effects. The challenge is to develop a suitable ligand for a cell-surface receptor that is selectively expressed on the desired cell. Sialoadhesin (Sn, Siglec-1, CD169), a sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin (Siglec) expressed on subsets of resident and inflammatory macrophages, is an attractive target for the development of a ligand-targeted delivery system. Here we report the development of a high-affinity and selective ligancl for Sn that is an analogue of the natural ligand and is capable of targeting liposomal nanoparticles to Sn-expressing cells in vivo. An efficient in silico screen of a library of similar to 8400 carboxylic acids was the key to identifying novel 9-N-acyl-substituted N-acetylneuramic acid (Neu5Ac) substituents as potential lead compounds. A small panel of targets were selected from the screen and synthesized to evaluate their affinities and selectivities. The most potent of these Sn ligands, (4H-thieno[3,2-c]chromene-2-carbamoyl)-Neu5Ac alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc ((TCC)Neu5Ac), was conjugated to lipids for display on a liposomal nanoparticle for evaluation of targeted delivery to cells. The (TCC)Neu5Ac liposomes were found to target liposomes selectively to cells expressing either murine or human Sn in vitro, and when administered to mice, they exhibited in vivo targeting to Sn-positive macrophages.