Human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells were induced into apoptosis by curcumin (Cur). Its nuclear matrix proteins were selectively extracted, and subjected to two dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis. The resulted protein patterns were analyzed by Melanie software. There were 27 spots changed remarkably during the apoptosis induced by curcumin, 21 of which were identified. There were seven up-regulated proteins including DNA polymerase zeta and forteen down-regulated proteins including Prohibitin. This study suggests that the induced apoptosis of carcinoma cells is accompanied with changes of nuclear matrix proteins, and confirms the presence of some specific nuclear matrix proteins associated with carcinoma cell growth, apoptosis and the associated signal transduction pathways in induced apoptosis of carcinoma cells. It provides proofs and a new way to study the mechanisms of gene expression carcinogenesis which reveal the relationship between configuration and composition of nuclear matrix and cell apoptosis. Besides, this study provides several potential target proteins for cancer diagnosis and cancer therapy.