Objective To investigate the apoptosis-inducing effect of L-gossypol on human nasopharyngesl carcinoma cell line CNE2 and its possible mechanism.Methods The effect of L-gossypol on proliferation of CNE2 cells was estimated by MTT assay.Flow cytometry was used to analyz cell apoptosis induced by(-)-gossypol and the expression of Bcl-2 、Bax proteins.Caspase-3 activity was determined by caspase-3 colorimetric assay kit.Results Lgossypol was able to inhibit the proliferation of CNE2 cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent fashion at concentrations more than 10 μmoL/L.L-gossypol regulated cell cycle and GO/G1 arrest could be observed in CNE2 cells.In the process of apoptosis,the expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulated and Bax was up-regulated,caspase-3 activity was in peak at 24h.Conclusion L-gossypol could induce apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2 in vitro,which may be associated with down-regulation of Bcl-2,up-regulation of Bax genes expression and caspase-3 activation.