title: ALG-2 knockdown in HeLa cells results in G2/M cell cycle phase accumulation and cell death.
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.
authors.affiliation: Copenhagen Biocenter, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Berit R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Høj
authors.forename: Jonas M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: la Cour
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mollerup
authors.forename: Martin W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Berchtold
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D015536:Down-Regulation; D016195:G2 Phase / Q000235:genetics; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; C097753:PDCD6 protein, human; D020169:Caspases