A novel Bcl-XL inhibitor Z36 that induces autophagic cell death in Hela cells.

Inhibition of Bcl2 family proteins Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2 represents a promising drug development strategy for cancer treatment by triggering apoptosis in cancer cells. Here we report a novel Bcl-X(L) inhibitor, Z36, which unexpectedly induces only autophagic cell death, but not apoptosis. This special property distinguishes Z36 from other previously reported Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2 inhibitors that induce cancer cell death mainly through apoptosis, and makes Z36 an attractive molecular tool for studying the cellular regulation of autophagic cell death and apoptosis.