Fig. 9. HBx expressed from the full-length HBV genome also sensitizes the cells to apoptosis by TNF-α, and c-FLIP rescues the cells from full-length HBV-mediated apoptosis. (A) HepG2 cells were transfected with 0.6 µg of HBV1.2(HBx+) or HBV1.2(HBx–) with or without the same amount of c-FLIP. At 16 h post-transfection, cells were treated with TNF-α and serum starved for 77 h, and viable cells were quantified by Trypan Blue exclusion. (B) Phase-contrast microscope examination of (A). Results shown are based on three independent experiments.