To analyze gene expression of a-fetoprotein (AFP) and AFP gene expression is shown during massive liver albumin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), messenger necrosis 7 and in hepatocarcinogenesis. On the other RNAs (mRNAs) of these proteins in six human hepatoma hand, albumin gene expression begins with the initiacell lines and in 30 cases of HCC were quantitatively tion of liver organogenesis and increases gradually analyzed by competitive reverse transcription (RT) fol-with development. [8][9][10][11] Albumin transcription is known lowed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The tran-to be modulated by various factors such as hormones, scriptional levels of both AFP and albumin genes in the acute phase reaction, extracellular matrix, heat, -fold enhanced as compared with man hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the biological that of nonneoplastic portion, and correlated with se-significance of the varied AFP transcription have not rum AFP level and tumor size (P õ .01). In contrast, been clarified yet. albumin mRNA level was not reduced in the neoplasmsIn the present study, we have developed competitive presenting enhanced AFP mRNA levels, indicating that reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain re-AFP and albumin gene expression in situ is not necessar-action (RT-PCR) assays to evaluate messenger RNA ily mutually exclusive. Prospective analysis revealed (mRNA) levels of both AFP and albumin in tissue speci- , 1995; accepted January 16, 1996. lysed, and the total RNA was extracted as described below.Supported by grants from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and theThe experiments were performed in triplicate.Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Culture and Science, Japan.Patients. tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiography.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is one of the typical syndromes of inborn errors in amino acid metabolism due to a lack of phenylalanine hydroxylase.1* The syndrome appears in the form of an impediment of the central nurvous systems.2) The only method currently available for the prevention of such an impediment is the use ofa diet based on a mixture of free amino acids (FAA) with a limited level of phenylalanine (0.4%).3) However, the FAA mixture is not necessarily desirable in that it can cause an osmotic problem which mayarise whengastrointestinal systems are exposed to low-molecular-weight species. The FAAmixture also has an unpleasant flavor. Primarily for these reasons, it has long been desired to develop a mixture of lowphenylalanine peptides (LPP) as a foodstuff for the for

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