It has been shown that p53 induces cell apoptosis and the Bcl-2 family plays key roles in this process. However, the molecular mechanism of p53 apoptotic pathway is still unclear. Here, we show that overexpression of exogenous wild-type p53 induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells and high metastasis potential cells had a faster rate of apoptosis than low metastasis potential cells. The expression of proapoptotic gene BNIP3 was increased significantly both in Anip973 and 95D cell lines which have high metastasis ability, but not AGZY83-a or little increased in 95C cell lines which possess low metastasis ability. Overexpression of BNIP3 increases apoptotic rate induced by p53 in AGZY83-a cells. Blocking the expression of BNIP3 by siRNA in Anip973 cells decreased apoptotic rate mediated by p53. Taken together, these data suggest that high level expression of BNIP3 mediated rapid apoptosis that was triggered by p53 in lung cancer cells. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.