Abstract

Biochemical functions of human livers were studied using fetal hepatocytes in primary culture. Immunocytochemical staining showed that albumin was not expressed in any fetal hepatocytes, whereas alpha-fetoprotein was detected in almost all the cells. Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TO, EC 1.13.11.11.) activity was not induced in the presence of 10(-7) M dexamethasone and 10(-7) M glucagon, but the activity of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT, EC 2.6.1.5.) was elevated about 35 fold under the same conditions. These results suggest that the TAT and alpha-fetoprotein genes are activated in human fetal liver at 14 to 20 weeks of gestation.

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