Immunoelectronmicroscopic study of alpha-fetoprotein synthesis in hepatoma cells.

In the hepatoma cells, AFP synthesis was found to occur through ribosomes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, since AFP was demonstrated around ribosomes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum by the peroxidase antibody technique. The secretory process was suggested to be as follows: smooth endoplasmic reticulum takes a part and the Golgi apparatus does not. Concerning the early transitory appearance of AFP in the course of hepatocarcinogenesis by 3'Me-DAB, AFP might be produced by proliferated ampulla cells, which exist between the cholangioles and liver cell cords.