The receptors, which are integral membrane proteins and are located on mammalian hepatocytes (liver cells), remove target glycoproteins from circulation.
[2] Lactobionic acid has been used as a targeting moiety for drug delivery to cells expressing asialoglycoprotein receptors.
[1] The researchers transferred radioactively-labeled ceruloplasmin that had undergone a reaction via the enzyme neuraminidase to remove the protein's terminal sialic acid,[6] generating an asialoglycoprotein.
Thus, it was concluded that a receptor is capable of recognizing asialoglycoproteins (i.e., proteins that have lost their terminal sialic acids) and removing them from circulation by transporting them to the liver.
[1] Each of these units have their N-terminus within the cytoplasm of a liver cell, and a carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) on the extracellular side.