Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 14, 2026
An Electroporation Cytometry Protocol for Live-Cell, Fluorescence Microscopy Using U2 OS Cell Culture
Published on: June 13, 2025
Visualisation of cell cycle modifications by X-ray irradiation of single HeLa cells using fluorescent
K Kaminaga1, M Noguchi2, A Narita2
1Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakata-Shirane, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University, 2-1-1 Bunkyo, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan.
Abstract:
To explore the effects of X-ray irradiation on mammalian cell cycle dynamics, single cells using the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (Fucci) technique were tracked. HeLa cells expressing Fucci were used to visualise cell cycle modifications induced by irradiation. After cultured HeLa-Fucci cells were exposed to 5 Gy X-rays, fluorescent cell images were captured every 20 min for 48 h using a fluorescent microscope. Time dependence of the fluorescence intensity of S/G2 cells was analysed to examine the cell cycle dynamics of irradiated and non-irradiated control cells. The results showed that irradiated cells could be divided into two populations: one with similar cell cycle dynamics to that of non-irradiated cells, and another displaying a prolonged G2 phase. Based on these findings, it is proposed in this article that an underlying switch mechanism is involved in cell cycle regulation and the G2/M checkpoint of HeLa cells.
