TNF and Hepatic fibrosis: In addition, Ahodantin et al. [55] examined whether HBx promotes liver fibrosis in full length (FL)-HBx Tg mice treated with CCl4, and observed that FL-HBx expression alters hepatocyte proliferation and potentiates CCl4-induced liver fibrosis, with increasing expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, TGF-β) and proteins (Collagen1a, α-Sma, PdgfR-β, MMP-13) involved in the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and severity of liver disease.