Identification from a combinatorial library of a small molecule that selectively induces apoptosis in cancer cells.

The selective induction of death in cancer cells is a major challenge in modern medicine. In this communication we describe the synthesis of an 88-membered combinatorial library, and the subsequent evaluation of these compounds for their ability to selectively induce apoptosis in cancerous cells. A compound was identified from the library that induces apoptosis in U-937 and HL-60 cell lines. This compound is a remarkably selective pro-apoptotic agent for these cancer cell lines, as it does not induce significant death in noncancerous white blood cells, even at concentrations as high as 1000 muM.