ALB and hepatocellular carcinoma: To validate HepaRG as an appropriate cell line for this study, expression levels of a number of hepatocyte-specific genes were compared in the four cell lines, including albumin, cytochromes (CYP) 3A4 and 2C9, alpha-antitrypsin (AAT, Serpin1), transferrin (TF), hepatic nuclear factors (HNF) 3b and 4A as well as a marker of liver carcinoma—α-fetoprotein (aFP).