Glycolipids from sponges. IV. Immunomodulating glycosyl ceramides from the marine sponge agelas dispar

The GSL composition of the marine sponge Agelas dispar was investigated. In addition to four GSLs previously isolated from Agelas clathrodes (2 and 4), Agelas conifera (3), and Agelas longissima (5), the novel triglycosylceramide 1a was isolated as a major component of the GSL mixture. All the isolated GSLs were tested using the MLR assay, and only some of them were shown to be immunoactivating agents, suggesting a possible structure-activity relationship