Moreover, the TATA box from the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase promoter from Clontech (pTA; Clontech Laboratories, Inc., Palo Alto, CA) and six times repeat of AP-1-binding site sequence (5′-TGACTAA-3′) fused with pTA promoter (6XAP-1) were subcloned into pGL3-Basic vector for reporter assay. Total DNA was isolated from the 50 pairs of HCCs and their corresponding nontumorous liver tissues according to the standard protocol, as described previously.12 Total RNA of 11 hepatoma cell lines was extracted using TRIzol (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA), according to manufacturer’s protocol. For polymerase

chain reaction (PCR) amplification of HBx, sets of PCR primers HIF inhibitor review (44F: 5′-TCCTTTGTTTACGTCCCGTC-3′, 197R:-5′GCAGATGAGAAGGCACAGAC-3′ and 465R: 5′-TTAGGCAGAGGTGAAAAAGTTGC-3′) were used for full-length and COOH-truncated HBx, respectively (Fig. 1A). In addition, to detect the presence of truncation at 130, 140, and 150aa of COOH-truncated HBx, respectively, sets of PCR primers (1F: 5′-ATGGCTGCTAGGCTGTGCT-3′, 390R: 5′-ATCTAATCTCCTCCCC-3′, 420R: 5′-CAATTTATGCCTACAGCCTCCTAC-3′ and 450R: 5′-TTAGTTGCATGGTGCTGGTGCGCAG-3′) were used (Supporting Fig. 1A). A set of PCR primers (5′-ATCCAGTTTGGTGTCGCGGAGC-3′ and 5′-GAAGGGGAAGACGCACAGCT-3′) was used to amplify MMP10 complementary DNA (cDNA), with β-actin (primer set of 5′-GTCACTTCAGCTCCTTTCCT-3′ and 5′-ATCTTGCGAAAGGCGGAACT-3′) used as a reference for the amount of

cDNA added in the PCR reactions. The detailed protocol for HBx-specific Alu-PCR was according to that described previously by Minami et al.13 Primers Buparlisib used for HBx-specific Alu-PCR were according to sequences described by Murakami et. al.14 Amplified PCR products were subjected to DNA sequencing. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections as previously described,10 using rabbit polyclonal antibody (Ab) Thalidomide against HBx

(a gift by Dr. MA Feitelson) at 1:5,000 dilution. The HepG2 cell line was, first, transfected with pLVX Tet-Off Advanced vector (Clontech Laboratories, Inc., Mountain View, CA) using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen), according to manufacturer’s protocol. tTA(Tet-Off)-expressing cells were selected with G418 at 1 mg/mL for 14 days. To obtain stable inducible HBx-expressing cells, lentivirus containing full-length and C-terminal truncated HBx in Myc/pLVX-Tight Puro vector was infected into tTA-expressing HepG2 cells and selected with puromycin at 1 μg/mL for 7 days. Cell-invasion assay was performed with Matrigel precoated transwell chamber (BD Biosciences, Sparks, MD). Cells (3 × 105) of cells were seeded onto the transwell chamber and were allowed to invade through the extracellular matrix to the lower chamber. Invaded cells were fixed with 3.7% formaldehyde and stained with crystal violet. Three randomly selected fields on the fixed transwell chamber were captured by photography, and invaded cells were counted. The experiment was performed at least thrice independently.