Structure-Guided Rescaffolding of Selective Antagonists of BCL-XL

Because of the promise of BCL-2 antagonists in combating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), interest in additional selective antagonists of antiapoptotic proteins has grown. Beginning with a series of selective, potent BCL-X-L antagonists containing an undesirable hydrazone functionality, in silico design and X-ray crystallography were utilized to develop alternative scaffolds that retained the selectivity and potency of the starting compounds.