Therefore, the question whether HBx could decrease the protein level of endogenous A3G, constitutive and/or induced, in hepatocytes in a similar fashion as it does that of exogenous A3G in transfected hepatoma cells (Figs 1 and 2), remains to be addressed by further studies both in vitro and in vivo. This evidence concerns the gene APOBEC3G and hepatocellular carcinoma.