Galβ Ligands

Galactose (Galβ) ligands present the β-anomeric configuration recognized by a broad range of galactose-binding proteins. Most notably, terminal β-Gal residues are the canonical ligand for the galectin family of lectins, which mediate cell adhesion, immune regulation, apoptosis, and tumor biology. Galβ ligands are valuable tools for galectin-targeted research, glycan-array and binding studies, and the construction of galectin-binding probes and inhibitors.

Galβ ligands are also recognized by the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) on hepatocytes, together with β-GalNAc, terminal β-Gal residues on asialoglycoproteins are the natural ASGPR ligands, and can be used for hepatocyte-targeted delivery, though with lower affinity than β-GalNAc. Terminal Galβ residues are also a substrate for glycosyltransferases, including sialyltransferases and fucosyltransferases, enabling enzymatic chain extension to sialylated and fucosylated glycans. Therapeutic payloads can be directly conjugated to Galβ ligands or encapsulated in nanoparticles decorated with Galβ ligands.

We provide Galβ ligands with various functional linkers depending on their intended use.