Fig. 2. (A,B) Scoring of mitotic cells in the different phases of mitosis reveals only slight differences between cells following control RNAi treatment (using dsRNA corresponding to a human intronic sequence; A) and Topo II RNAi (B). The Topo II RNAi causes a significant increase in the fraction of anaphase cells seen at later times. (C) The percentage of cells in each stage of the cell cycle at various times after treatment. There is no significant difference in any of the mitotic phases when control and Topo II RNAi-treated cells (selected because the spindle is viewed from the side and the metaphase plate can be unambiguously identified) are scored at 72 hours post addition of dsRNA. (D) Mitotic index. There is no significant difference in mitotic index between control and Topo II RNAi-treated cultures over the course of the experiment. (E) Cell growth curves of control and Topo II RNAi-treated cultures. These data are from three independent experiments. In each experiment, more than 2000 cells were scored at every time point. The mitotic index is determined by observing the DNA and spindle staining.

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