Fig. 6.

Overexpression of HBc protein combined with ethanol stimulation increases the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and inhibits the cholesterol degradation pathway. A: The expression of HBx, HBs, and HBc in HepG2 cells after transfection with pCDH-HBx, pCDH-HBs, pCDH-HBc plasmid, or the empty vector. B: Gene expression analysis of SREBP-2 by real-time PCR in HepG2 cells. C: Expression of nuclear SREBP-2 (nSREBP-2) by immunofluorescence laser confocal microscopy in HepG2 cells. D: Western blots of nuclear SREBP-2 in HepG2 cells. E: Western blots of HMGCR and CYP-7α protein levels in HepG2 cells. Data are mean ± SEM of three separate experiments done in triplicate. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.