Ultrastructural immunoenzymatic study of alpha-fetoprotein-producing cells in the human fetal liver.

Cells producing alpha-fetoprotein in human fetal liver have been studied with specific horseradish peroxidase labeled immunoglobulins. Under light microscopy, the alpha-fetoprotein is strictly localized in the cytoplasm of certain hepatocytes, distributed randomly in the hepatic lobule. Ultrastructural examination of thesame cells shows that the alpha-fetoprotein is present within the cytoplasm. Ultrastructural differences are described in hepatocytes according to whether or not the cell is producing alpha-fetoprotein at the time of sampling. These observations lead to the hypothesis that alpha-fetoprotein may correspond to a particular functional state of the hepatocyte in human fetal liver.