Fig 6.

PTEN negatively regulates HBV replication and translation. (A) Relative HBV pgRNA level in HepG2 cells co-transfected with HBV 1.3-mer and FLAG-PTEN plasmid was determined 2 days after transfection. HBV preS2 protein level was analyzed by immunoblotting. *P = 0.00010 (B) Relative HBV pgRNA level in PTEN-silenced cells was analyzed by qRT-PCR at 48 h post-siRNA transfection. Levels of PTEN and HBV preS2 proteins were assessed by immunoblotting. (C) PTEN-silenced PHH were infected with HBV. After 72 h, total RNA and proteins were extracted to assess expression levels of HBV pgRNA and protein. *P = 0.0067 (D and E) HepG2 cells were co-transfected with the HBV 1.3-mer and FLAG-PTEN plasmid (D). HepG2 cells were transfected with HBV 1.3-mer (E). 12 h post-transfection, cells were treated with PTEN inhibitors (46 nM; VO-OHpic or 2 μM; SF1670) and 48 h later cells were harvested. HBV pgRNA level was analyzed by qRT-PCR and HBV preS2 protein level was analyzed by immunoblotting. *P = 0.00015 **P = 0.00026 n.s, not significant by unpaired Student’s t-test.