[Hepatitis B virus X protein suppresses adriamycin-induced apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and expression of p53 and PTEN].

Objective: To investigate the effect of hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) on adriamycin-induced apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the expressions of p53 and PTEN.

Methods: HepG2, HepG2/GFP, and HepG2/GFP-HBx cells were treated with adriamycin (2.5 microg/ml), and the apoptotic cell death was determined by observing the morphological changes and flow cytometry.