Background:Cervical cancer has the fourth highest incidence and mortality rate of all cancers in women worldwide;it seriously harms their physical and mental health.The aim of this study was to observe the roles and preliminary mechanism of Taurine (Tau)-induced apoptosis in cervical cancer cells.Methods:Cells from the human cervical cancer cell line SiHa were transfected with the recombinant plasmid pEGFP-N1-MST1 (mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1);then,the cell proliferation activity was analyzed by the MTT assay,cell apoptosis by flow cytometry,and the related protein levels by West blotting.Results:Tau inhibited the proliferation of SiHa cells and induced apoptosis in these cells (the apoptotic rate was 21.95％ in the Tau 160 mmol/L group and 30％ in the Tau 320 mmol/L group),upregulated the expression of the MST1 (control,0.53;Tau 40-320 mmol/L groups,0.84-1.45) and Bax (control,0,45;Tau 40-320 mmol/L groups,0.64-1.51) proteins (P＜0.01),and downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 (control,1.28,Tau 40-320 mmol/L groups,0.93-0.47) (P ＜ 0.01).The overexpression of MST1 promoted the apoptosis of SiHa cells,enhanced the apoptosis-inductive effects of Tau (P ＜ 0.01),upregulated the expression of the proapoptotic proteins p73,p53,PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis),and caspase-3,and promoted the phosphorylation of YAP (Yes-associated protein).Conclusions:Tau inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of cervical cancer SiHa cells.The MST1 protein plays an important role in the Tau-induced apoptosis of cervical cancer cells.