Abstract: Objective To investigate the in vitro induction of apoptosis in marine B16 melanoma cells by staphylococcus enterotoxin A(SEA).Methods Marine B 16 melanoma cells were cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations(0.001,0.01,0.1,1 wg/mL) of SEA.A fluorometric method was used to observe the morphological changes of cell apoptosis.Cell apoptosis rate was calculated by terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) assay.Flow cytometry was applied to detect the changes of cell cycles.Results It was shown that the apoptosis of B16 cells could be induced by superantigen SEA.And the highest apoptosis rate resulted from the inducement by 0.01 wg/mL of SEA.Conclusion Superantigen SEA could induce the apoptosis of marine B16 melanoma cells in vitro.

Key words: Superantigens, Enterotoxins, Apoptosis, Melanoma,experimental