1. Hormonal regulation of apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene expression by insulin and thyroid hormone was studied in a human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. 2. Changes at the mRNA level, mRNA translation, in vivo synthesis and secretion were monitored. 3. Both insulin and triiodothyronine were found to have no significant effect on apoE mRNA levels. 4. Insulin treatment caused an inhibition of: (a) the in vitro translation of endogenous apoE mRNA in a HepG2 cell-free system (25%), and (b) the incorporation of radioactivity into newly-synthesized apoE in an in vivo pulse-chase labeling experiment (32%). 5. Interestingly, apoE secretion rate was found to be significantly reduced with insulin (84%) suggesting that a major portion of newly-synthesized apoE may be shunted into a degradative pathway. 6. Using a similar experimental approach, triiodothyronine showed no significant effect on the rate of apoE synthesis or translation (6-15% decrease), however a slight reduction (20%) in secretion rate was shown. 7. Overall, apoE gene expression does not appear to be influenced by triiodothyronine significantly but is modulated by insulin at the translational and post-translational level.