Fig. 6

HBx promoted cell proliferation in HepG2 cells. a. b. c. Alteration of G2/M markers in HepG2 and HepG2.2.15 cells. Relative mRNA expressions of different cell cycle regulators were compared between HepG2 cells transfected with HBx plasmid and empty vector; X silenced HBx transfected HepG2 cells and negative control; HBx silenced HepG2.2.15 cells and negative control. a Relative CCNB1 expression (b) Relative CDC25A expression (c) Relative CCNA1 expression. d. e Cell proliferation assay in HBx transfected HepG2 cells and X silenced HBx transfected HepG2 cells at the 48 h time-point. d Results from MTT assay showed that HBx transfection led to a significant increase in HepG2 cell proliferation compared with control cells (e). Cell proliferation was decreased in X silenced HBx - HepG2 cells compared to negative control. Data shown represent the mean ± SD. The experiments were performed in quadruplet (*P < 0.05; Student’s t-test)