Targeting the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway favors TGF-β to antagonize the oncogenic action of HBx. (A) A cell counting kit 8 cell proliferation assay was performed. Cells were treated with 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 together with DMSO or 10 µM SP600125 every 48 h for five days. All experiments were conducted in triplicate. *P<0.05, **P<0.01. (B) A soft agarose assay was performed. Cells were treated with 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 together with DMSO or 10 µM SP600125 every 48 h for two weeks. Values are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean of results from triplicate experiments. Magnification, ×100. *P<0.05, **P<0.01. TGF, transforming growth factor; HBx, hepatitis B virus X protein; vec, vector; ctrl, control; OD, optical density; DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide.