α-Fetoprotein production and erythropoiesis in cell cultures of human fetal liver

Abstract

α-Fetoprotein and the synthesis of heme associated with hemoglobin were measured simultaneously in short-term cultures of human fetal liver cells to correlate the relationship of α-fetoprotein to erythroid cell function. Both synthetic processes decreased exponentially during the first 5 days of culture. The use of media supplemented with different batches of fetal calf serum and porcine portal vein serum indicated that the optimal conditions for the production of α-fetoprotein were different from those required for the synthesis of heme associated with hemoglobin. Moreover, the α-fetoprotein-producing cells could be separated from erythroid cells after velocity sedimentation in Ficoll gradients. Although it is well known that erythropoiesis and α-fetoprotein production occur simultaneously during ontogenesis, α-fetoprotein itself (0.01–100 μg/ml) did not stimulate heme synthesis in liver erythroid cells. Erythropoietin did not stimulate α-fetoprotein production. It is concluded that there is no cause–effect relationship between α-fetoprotein production and erythroid cell function in human fetal liver cells and that the two processes occur independently in different cell types.