Polysaccharides for vascular cell targeting

Carbohydrate structures are involved in numerous biological activities such as inflammation, and cell adhesion/migration/proliferation. This gives the rationale for the design of vascular targeted drug delivery systems bearin g sugar moieties, For the imaging and treatment of vascular diseases, an ov erview is presented with polysaccharides targeting vascular components. Aft er a general description of the vasculature and the main blood components, a special emphasis is placed on carbohydrate-based molecules, such as hepar in/heparan sulfate, and carbohydrate-binding proteins, such as selectins fo und in the vascular system. The methods using heparin and heparin analogs i n delivery systems applied to vascular components are then described.