Superselective targeting of gangliosides upregulated on cancer cells

Cancer is the third leading cause of death worldwide and the targeted therapy of tumours is considered a promising treatment avenue. However, off-target effects occur because many targetable receptors are present not only on tumour cells but, at a lower level, also on healthy cells. The present work seeks to improve the specificity of targeting by developing superselective probes that sharply discriminate cells by the density of a target receptor. The superselective targeting of gangliosides is here considered as a proof-of-principle application given the broad upregulation of gangliosides on tumour cells.