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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Development of a Hepatitis B Virus Reporter System to Monitor the Early Stages of the Replication Cycle
Published on: February 1, 2017
[Hepatitis B virus X protein regulates c-met promoter via the ERKs singal pathway in HepG2 cells]
Objective:
To explore the signal pathway mediating the regulatory effect of Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBX) on c-met gene promoter in HepG2 cells.
Methods:
The expression of c-met in HBX-transfected HepG2 cells treated with different signal pathway inhibitors was detected by western blot, the invasion capability of cells was determined by Matrigel invasion assay.
Results:
ERK inhibitor U0126 inhibited the expression of the c-Met in HBx-transfected HepG2 cells. However, both p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580 and PI-3K inhibitor wortmanin had no effect on expression of the c-Met in HBx-transfected HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the ERK inhibitor U0126 also inhibited the invasiveness of HBX-transfected HepG2 cells.
Conclusion:
HBx induces invasion of HCC via activation of ERK pathway.
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