Apoptotic activities in closely related styryllactone stereoisomers toward human tumor cell lines: Investigation of synergism of styryllactone-induced apoptosis with TRAIL.

A related series of styryllactones with small functional and stereochemical variations were compiled for a comparative study of their apoptotic activities toward two tumorigenic and one non-tumorigenic control cell line. While a substantial range of intrinsic activity was observed, the relative order of activity of the different compounds toward the cell types varied somewhat as did the relative ratios of apoptosis and necrosis observed in conjunction with the loss of cell viability. While some of the styryllactones showed substantial activity, a small but significant apoptosis-induced synergism was demonstrated with (-)-altholactone and TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand).