Abstract:

Objective To explore the effects of the hepatitis B virus X gene（HBx） on expression of heat shock transcription factor 1（HSF1） and growth of HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Methods HepG2 cells were transfected with empty pcDNA3.1 vector or pcDNA3.1 encoding HBx using Lipofectamine 2000. After 24 h，the two groups of transfected cells were compared in terms of HSF1 and HBx protein expression（Western blot），MTT assay，plate clone formation，wound healing，and Transwell assay. Results HBx and HSF1 proteins were expressed at significantly higher levels in the cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-HBx than in cells transfected with empty vector. Cells transfected with the HBx gene showed significantly greater  colony formation（86.43±1.01％ vs 46.13±1.25％，P<0.05），invasion（51.01±1.75％ vs 22.47±2.05％，P<0.05） and migration（59.03±0.83％ vs 24.18±0.98％，P<0.05）. Conclusion Transfecting the HBx gene into HepG2 cells up-regulates expression of HBx and HSF1，which promotes the growth of hepatoma cells.

Key words: Liver neoplasm, Hepatitis B virus X（HBx）, Heat shock transcription factor 1（HSF1）, Hepatoma HepG2 cells, Cell growth