Figure 2

Effects of HPV-16 E2 on apoptosis in C33a and SiHa cells. A: The apoptotic death of cells. C33a and SiHa cells were transfected with the empty vector, the HPV-16 E2 vector, or the HPV-16 E2 mutant vector. At 48 h post-transfection, apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry analysis to detect the subG1 populations. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ^# p > 0.05 versus the plain medium group (control); ^▲▲ p < 0.01, ^▲▲▲ p < 0.001 versus the empty vector group; ^ΔΔ p < 0.01, ^ΔΔΔ p < 0.001 versus the HPV-16 E2 group. B: The morphology of the C33a and SiHa cells observed with an electron microscope. No morphologic changes were observed in cells treated with plain medium (control), empty vector, or HPV-16 E2 mutant vector (3700X). Apoptotic bodies were observed in HPV-16 E2 vector-transfected cells (3700X).