Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Preparation of Cell-lines for Conditional Knockdown of Gene Expression and Measurement of the Knockdown Effects on E4orf4-Induced Cell Death
Published on: October 21, 2012
ALG-2 knockdown in HeLa cells results in G2/M cell cycle phase accumulation and cell death
Berit R Høj1, Jonas M la Cour, Jens Mollerup
1Copenhagen Biocenter, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
Abstract:
ALG-2 (apoptosis-linked gene-2 encoded protein) has been shown to be upregulated in a variety of human tumors questioning its previously assumed pro-apoptotic function. The aim of the present study was to obtain insights into the role of ALG-2 in human cancer cells. We show that ALG-2 downregulation induces accumulation of HeLa cells in the G2/M cell cycle phase and increases the amount of early apoptotic and dead cells. Caspase inhibition by the pan-caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk attenuated the increase in the amount of dead cells following ALG-2 downregulation. Thus, our results indicate that ALG-2 has an anti-apoptotic function in HeLa cells by facilitating the passage through checkpoints in the G2/M cell cycle phase.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Red Algae
Inhibition of Cdk Activity
The Cell Cycle Control System
Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the primary cell cycle regulators and function at the cell...
Positive Regulator Molecules
Overview of Algae

