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Six new steroid glycosides, linckosides F-K, and a related metabolite were isolated from the Okinawan blue starfish Linckia laevigata as mimics or enhancers of nerve growth factor (NGF). Their structures and stereochemistry were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and chemical derivatization. Structure-activity relationships suggest that both a carbon branch modified by a pentose at the side chain and 2'-O-methylxylopyranose at C-3 of the aglycon are important for neuritogenic activity.

Three new steroid glycosides, linckosides C-E, were isolated from the Okinawan starfish Linckia laevigata. Their structures and partial stereochemistry were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and chemical derivatization. These metabolites are additional members of the linckosides that were previously discovered as a novel class of neuritogenic compounds. Each of them possesses two monosaccharide units at C-3 of a polyhydroxylated steroidal aglycon and at the side chain (C-28 or C-29). Linckosides C and D are the first steroids that possess a hydroxyisopropyl substituent at C-24 of the side chain. These compounds are not only potent inducers of neurite outgrowth on PC12 cells but also significant enhancers of nerve growth factor (NGF) to induce the neurite outgrowth. The structure-activity relationships within the linckosides revealed that the presence of xylopyranose at the side chain was important rather than arabinofuranose, but that the diversity of the side chain carbon skeleton was not.