Expression of human hepatic genes in mouse hepatoma--human amniocyte hybrids.

Human liver-specific gene products are expressed by hybrid cells resulting from the fusion of human amniocytes with mouse hepatoma cells. Amniocytes grown from human amniotic fluid have no detectable levels of secreted human albumin, transferrin, alpha-1 antitrypsin, or ceruloplasmin, while the mouse hepatoma line, HH--, secretes several mouse liver-specific gene products including transferrin and albumin. Fifty-five hybrids were isolated and analyzed for the expression of serum proteins by Ouchterlony double diffusion and Laurell immunoelectrophoresis. All hybrids continued to express mouse albumin and transferrin, and 29 hybrids from this series were found to express one or more human serum proteins. Activation of the human amniocyte genome provides a model for prenatal diagnosis of serum protein abnormalities.