Infection of human erythroid cells with lentiviral vectors carrying TMCC2 specific shRNA constructs leads to three clear effects: (i) reduced proliferation seen at 3, 5, and 8 days after infection; (ii) increased frequency of apoptotic cells that are positive for annexin V, from nearly 5% in controls to between 15% and 20% in TMCC2 knockdown cultures; and (iii) disrupted morphology of TMCC2 knockdown cells, pointing to aberrant maturation, with remnants of dead cells visible in the microscopic images. Here, TMCC2 is linked to infection.