Apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial intermembrane space protein ubiquitously expressed in various kinds of cells. When death stimuli present, AIF is released from mitochondria to the cytoplasm and then translocated to the nucleus, inducing peripheral chromatin condensation and large-scale fragmentation of DNA (～50 kb). The full-length AIF gene was amplified by RT-PCR firstly, then its N-terminal mitochondrial localization sequence (MLS) was deleted, being replaced with PE transmembrane domain, and then the recombinant gene was inserted into the pIRES2 -EGFP eukaryotic expression vector. After transfection into HeLa cells with lipofectamine, the expression of these recombinant AIF gene and their effects on HeLa cell growth were detected by fluorescent microscopy, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy analyses. The result proved that the expression of the recombinant human AIF gene could induce HeLa cell death, which provided new strategy for killing cancer cells.