Synthesis and in vitro Evaluation of α‐GalCer Epimers

Abstract
α‐GalCer (also known as KRN7000) is an immunomodulatory glycolipid that is known to potently activate invariant natural killer T (NKT) cells upon CD1d‐mediated stimulation. Because Th1 and Th2 cytokines, which are released after α‐GalCer presentation, antagonize each other's effects, α‐GalCer analogues that induce a biased Th1/Th2 response are highly awaited. In this context, we report the synthesis and in vitro evaluation of α‐Gal‐D‐xylo‐Cer and two α‐Gal‐L‐lyxo‐Cer analogues, one with the natural acyl chain, the other with a truncated chain.