BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the expression of DJ-1 in cervical carcinoma and its effects on cell viability and apoptosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cervical carcinoma cell line Hela and 85 tissue samples, including 45 primary tumor biopsies, 30 para-carcinoma tissues, and 10 normal cervical tissues samples were used in this study. The expressions of DJ-1 in cervical carcinoma tissue, para-carcinoma tissue, and normal tissue samples were investigated by immunohistochemistry. DJ-1 expression in Hela cells was also investigated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot. DJ-1 was interfered and transfected with siRNA, then cell viability and apoptosis were assayed by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. Additionally, the expressions of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), AKT, and phospho-AKT (P-AKT) were detected. RESULTS Immunohistochemistry results showed that DJ-1 was highly expressed in cervical carcinoma tissues. In Hela cells, the expression of DJ-1 was significantly higher than that in normal controls (P<0.05). When cells were treated with DJ-1 siRNA, the cell viability decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the percentage of apoptosis cells increased significantly (P<0.05). In addition, the expressions of PTEN and AKT were significantly higher in the DJ-1 siRNA treatment group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The expression of p-AKT was significantly lower in the DJ-1 siRNA treatment group than in the control group and the DJ-1 over-expression group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The aberrant up-regulation of DJ-1 expression might be an important step in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma.