The results of the present study showed that YM155 can inhibit MOLT-4 leukemia cell line growth and induce apoptosis by down-regulation of critical genes involved in apoptosis and cell death, including survivin, Bcl-2, Apex1, Zeb2, Snail1, SIRT1 and up-regulation of miR-9, caspase3 and p53 in MOLT-4 cell line. The gene discussed is SNAI1; the disease is leukemia.