Hormonal Control and Putative Cell Cycle Dependency of AFP Production: Further Observations in vivo and in vitro

We describe the effect of hormones on AFP production in neonatal rats, in primary fetal rat hepatocyte cultures, in adult animals with liver injuries, and in tumor cell lines established in vitro. Preliminary data of studies on the putative cell cycle dependency of AFP production are also presented. Suppression of AFP by glucocorticoid hormones emerges as a most powerful system to study liver cell differentiation through AFP regulation.