Purification and properties of human alkaline phosphatase from meconium

Immunohistochemical demonstration of intestinal-type alkaline phosphatase in stomach tumors induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in rats

A polyclonal antibody against rat intestinal-type alkaline phosphatase (I-ALP) was generated and proven to be applicable immunohistochemically to paraffin-embedded sections. Expression of I-ALP in normal tissues, intestinal metaplasia and stomach tumors induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) was then investigated in five different strains of rats. Male SD (Crj:CD), Lewis (LEW/Crj), WKY (WKY/NCrj), Wistar (Crj:Wistar) and F344 (F344/DuCrj) animals were given drinking water containing 100 micrograms/ml of MNNG for 30 weeks and were killed at week 50. Among the 5 strains, stomach adenocarcinomas were found most frequently in the SD case. The susceptibility of rats to induction of stomach carcinoma did not correlate with the development of intestinal metaplasias in each strain. Histochemical staining for mucin demonstrated all stomach tumors (adenomatous hyperplasias and well-differentiated adenocarcinomas) to consist mainly of gastric type cells (pyloric gland cell and surface mucous cell types), with intestinal-type tumor cells (goblet cell and intestinal absorptive cell types) being only occasional findings. Immunohistochemically, I-ALP was strongly positive on the striated cell borders of small intestinal absorptive cells of the villus and on brush borders of epithelial cells of kidney proximal tubules. I-ALP was also detected in the normal stomach, limited to the striated cell borders of absorptive cells of the upper one-fourth of intestinal metaplastic glands. I-ALP may thus be a useful marker for stomach tumor cells of intestinal absorptive cell type, indicative of maturation and differentiation. No stomach tumors consisting mainly of intestinal-type cells were found, and therefore there was no suggestion of any derivation from intestinal metaplasias.

Intestinal-like alkaline phosphatase expressed in normal human adult kidney

Human adult kidney was found to contain not only the 'tissue-unspecific alkaline phosphatase' but also another alkaline phosphatase isozyme. By use of monoclonal antibodies specific for human intestinal alkaline phosphatase, this kidney isozyme was purified to homogeneity by immunoaffinity chromatography. The structural and kinetic properties of the enzyme were compared with those of the other alkaline phosphatase isozymes expressed in normal human tissues, i.e. the placental, intestinal, meconial (fetal), liver and kidney isozymes. The new kidney isozyme was clearly different from both the tissue-unspecific and the adult intestinal alkaline phosphatase as regards isoelectric point, molecular mass and peptide maps after cyanogen bromide cleavage, but it was found to be identical to the meconial alkaline phosphatase. The results demonstrate simultaneous expression of two alkaline phosphatase isozymes in human kidney, one of which is normally related only to the fetal intestine.

Evidence for the expression of a primitive intestinal-like alkaline phosphatase in the intestinal 407 cell line

Intestinal-like alkaline phosphatase was found to be expressed in the intestinal 407 cell line. This enzyme was identified by use of monoclonal antibodies specific for human placental (H7 and HPMS-1) and intestinal alkaline phosphatase (2HIMS-1 and 2HIMS-3) separately. Purification of this isozyme by use of two different monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatographies demonstrates a single protein band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicating that this enzyme is not formed as a heterodimer. The apparent monomer subunit molecular weight and the dimer molecular weight of this isozyme were determined to 70000 and 160000, respectively. The enzyme is a homodimer according to molecular weight determinations. Furthermore, this isozyme is neuraminidase sensitive and comparatively heat stable, properties also characteristic for the placental enzyme. Our data suggest that the intestinal-like alkaline phosphatase in the intestinal 407 cell line displays properties intermediate of the intestinal and placental isozymes which may reflect the existence and reexpression of a new primitive isozyme.

Modulation of activity of human alkaline phosphatases by Mg2+ and thiol compounds

Interaction of purified human liver and placental alkaline phosphatases (orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase (alkaline optimum), EC 3.1.3.1) with sulfhydryl groups, sulfhydryl reagents, and Mg2+ were studied. L-Cysteine (0.1 mmol/l) or Mg2+ activated the liver enzyme 4-5-fold and the placental enzyme 2-3-fold, with optimal pH 7.5-8.0; these activations were not additive. L-Cysteine (2 mmol/l) inhibited both enzymes maximally at pH greater than 9.0; phosphate protected the enzymes. S-Methylcysteine had little effect, with or without Mg2+. Inhibition by sulfur-containing compounds paralleled their ability to bind Zn2+. Fluoresceine mercury acetate (specific for sulfhydryl groups) inhibited the isoenzymes, whereas iodoacetic acid, iodoacetamide, dithionitrobenzoic acid, and p-chloromercuribenzoate had little effect. The inhibition was reversed by L-cysteine and only slightly protected by inorganic phosphate. Thus, there are two sites on human liver and placental alkaline phosphatase that interact with L-cysteine; a Mg2+-binding site, which results in activation, and a site that involves one or both of the bound Zn2+ ions and results in inactivation. Both enzymes have a protected essential thiol group.

Different genes code for alkaline phosphatases from human fetal and adult intestine

Alkaline phosphatases from human adult intestine and fetal intestine (meconium) were purified and compared. Electrophoresis in SDS showed one band of protein in the former. There were three bands of protein in the latter, all with essentially the same peptide map. Thus, two of the bands probably arose by proteolysis of the third, which was largest (Mr 73000). In gradient gels of polyacrylamide the alkaline phosphatase from fetal intestine showed only one band of protein coincident with the band of activity (Mr 151000). Radiolabeled mapping showed that the tryptic peptides of the alkaline phosphatase from fetal intestine were distinctly different from those of adult intestine and human liver, and placenta, indicating a gene distinct from the three that code for the enzyme in liver/kidney/bone, placenta, and adult intestine.

Structural analysis of human adult and fetal alkaline phosphatases by cyanogen bromide peptide mapping

The adult and fetal forms of human intestinal alkaline phosphatase (ALPase; orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.1) are indistinguishable by a variety of analytical procedures. However, they differ electrophoretically and can be differentiated by binding studies with monoclonal antibodies. In this report, these two enzymes along with placental and liver ALPases are compared by the technique of CNBr peptide mapping, and the role of carbohydrate in generating these patterns is investigated. NaDodSO4/PAGE of CNBr digests of radiolabeled ALPases from fetal and adult intestine shows that these two isozymes share five of seven common-sized CNBr fragments. Placental ALPase shares only one common-sized fragment with either intestinal enzyme. Liver ALPase has no CNBr fragments in common with any of the others. These data indicate that fetal intestinal ALPase is not a heterodimer of one subunit each of intestinal ALPase and placental ALPase as has been postulated. CNBr digests of neuraminidase-treated enzymes reveal a change of mobility of only one CNBr band in each of fetal intestinal, placental, and liver ALPases, indicating the presence of sialic acid residues in these fragments. Periodic acid/Schiff reagent staining (specific for carbohydrate) of CNBr digests of fetal and adult intestinal ALPases reacts with only one band in each enzyme, which is the same band from the fetal enzyme shown to contain sialic acid. However, fetal and adult intestinal ALPases each contain at least one CNBr fragment of unique size that is apparently nonglycosylated.