【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the protective effects and mechanism of selective HDAC6 inhibitor 23BB in myoglobininduced proximal tubular cell lines (HK2). Methods HK2 cells were divided into control group, myoglobin (200μM) group, myoglobin+ 23BB (125nM) group, myoglobin+4PBA (2mM) group and myoglobin+23BB+TM (25ng/ml) group. Cells were collected at 24h after treatment. The apoptosis related gene mRNA level and marker protein expression were evaluated by RTPCR and Western blotting. Results The apoptosisrelated mRNA and marker protein expression were found to increase in response to myoglobin treatment. Conclusion The protective effect of HDAC6 inhibitor 23BB was through the inhibition of myoglobininduced apoptosis in HK2 cells.