Experimental studies of apoptosis induced by arsenic trioxide in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

CNE1 cell strains were dealt with As_(2)O_(3) at different concentrations. Cell proliferation was evaluated by the MTT assay, and the cell apoptosis was evaluated by the cell morphology, flow cytometry and TUNEL methods. The cell proliferation was obviously depressed by As_(2)O_(3) in vitro, which indicated that the depressive effect of As_(2)O_(3) in cancer was better than DDP or 5-FU. The typical morphological features such as nuclear pycnosis, chromatin coagulation, nuclear fragmentation and apoptotic body formation were observed and a typical hypodiploid apoptosis peak in the DNA line was found in the flow cytometry. As_(2)O_(3) can depress the proliferation of CNE1 and accelerate the apoptosis in vitro.