| abstract |
Methods and compositions are provided which increase the cellular uptake of bioactive materials by covalently bonding such compounds to carbohydrate moieties through chemical linkers using other than glycosidic bonds. Numerous carbohydrates, linkers and bioactive materials can be joined in this way to form novel compositions, which are collectively referred to herein as glinkosides. Preferred glinkosides are preferentially taken up by glucose receptor and/or other cellular receptors, and once inside the cells, the glinkosides are cleaved into a sugar, a linker or linker fragments, and a biologically active compound. Various aspects of the invention include processes for synthesizing glinkosides, glinkoside compositions, and methods of treating diseases using glinkosides. |