Objective:To investigate the effects of quercetin on growth and apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2.Method:Using trypan blue exclusive assay

cell growth which were affected by 20

40

60

80 μmol·L-1 concentrations of quercetin were evaluated after 24

48

72 h.Mean time

the percentage of apoptotic cell was detected by FCM after 48 h.The expression of protein Bcl-2 was analyzed by western blot.Result:Inhibition rate of the nasopharyngeal cancer cell was obviously enhanced along with increase of the quercetin concentration

the effect was also showed in time course.Flow cytometry study revealed

with the concentration increased especially the concentration over 40 μmol·L-1

the percentage of apoptotic cells raised after 48h compared with the control group.The expression of protein Bcl-2 was down-regulated along with increase in quercetin concentration.When the concentration over 40 μmol·L-1

the number was significantly different compared with that of the control group.Conclusion:Quercetin can effectively inhibit tumor cell growth and induce tumor cells into apoptosis.It may be associate with the low expression of protein Bcl-2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2.