The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising compound for induction of apoptosis, a method for inducing cancer cell apoptosis, a method to suppress lymphocyte activation, a method to improve intracellular trafficking of misfolded mutants and a screening method to identify additional compounds useful for inducing apoptosis, and more specifically, it relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising imidazole derivatives as active gradients for induction of apoptosis to treat various diseases including cancers and immune-related diseases, the method of inducing apoptosis by treating cancer cells with the pharmaceutical composition, the method of inactivating human lymphocytes by treating lymphocytes with the pharmaceutical composition, the method of improving intracellular trafficking of misfolded mutants by treating cells containing the mutants with the pharmaceutical composition, and the screening method for identifying additional compound useful for inducing apoptosis, wherein cells are incubated with the said pharmaceutical composition and detected.