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Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP) and Ca-ATPase are known to play roles in bone mineralization, but how these enzymes contribute to appositional mineralization has been illusive. Here we examined the active sites of these enzymes in appositional mineralization using the bones of young rats being administered with 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (HEBP) for 5 days. The doses of HEBP totally abolished mineralization of newly formed bone matrix except in matrix vesicles (MVs), and hence allowed precise localization of MVs and phosphatase reactions within non-mineralized extracellular matrix. Intense TNSALP and ATPase reactions were confirmed along the limited portions of osteoblast membranes where intimate cell-cell contacts were maintained. Diffuse reactions of these enzymes were throughout the osteoid implicating efflux of TNSALP and ATPase molecules into extracellular matrix from the osteoblast membranes. Phosphatase reactions associated with MVs varied both in intensity and location among the individual vesicles; newly formed MVs were almost free of reactions but appeared to gain those activities later in the osteoid. These data suggest that TNSALP and ATPase are released from the osteoblast membrane and later integrated into MVs within the osteoid. The osteoblasts may thus regulate appositional mineralization of bone from a distance at least in part by providing phosphatases via MVs.

The ubiquitous enzyme TNAP (tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase) is found in numerous tissues such as liver, kidney and bone, but little attention has been paid to its expression and role in the brain. Observations in TNAP-KO mice, which analyzed the role of this enzyme in osteogenesis, had suggested that TNAP might be involved in GABA neurotransmission. Apart from its presence in endothelial cells, here we show a specific and strong alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity in the neuropile, matching the pattern of thalamo-cortical innervation in layer 4 of the primate sensory cortices (visual, auditory and somatosensory). Such a pattern is also evident in rodents and carnivores, making AP a powerful marker of primary sensory areas. Remarkably, AP activity is regulated by sensory experience as demonstrated by monocular deprivation paradigms in monkeys. The areal and laminar distribution of AP activity matches that of the GAD(65), the GABA synthesizing enzyme found in presynatic terminals. As our electron microscopic investigations indicate that AP is found at the neuronal membranes and in synaptic contacts, it is proposed that the neuronal AP isoform (NAP), may be a key enzyme in regulating neurotransmission and could therefore play an important role in developmental plasticity and activity-dependent cortical functions.

Fractalkine (FKN), a CX(3)C chemokine/mucin hybrid molecule on endothelium, functions as an adhesion molecule to capture and induce firm adhesion of a subset of leukocytes in a selectin- and integrin-independent manner. We hypothesized that the FKN mucin domain may be important for its function in adhesion, and tested the ability of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) fusion proteins containing the entire extracellular region (FKN-SEAP), the chemokine domain (CX3C-SEAP), or the mucin domain (mucin-SEAP) to support firm adhesion under flow. CX3C-SEAP induced suboptimal firm adhesion of resting peripheral blood mononuclear cells, compared with FKN-SEAP, and mucin-SEAP induced no firm adhesion. CX3C-SEAP and FKN-SEAP bound to CX(3)CR1 with similar affinities. By electron microscopy, fractalkine was 29 nm in length with a long stalk (mucin domain), and a globular head (CX(3)C). To test the function of the mucin domain, a chimeric protein replacing the mucin domain with a rod-like segment of E-selectin was constructed. This chimeric protein gave the same adhesion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells as intact FKN, both when immobilized on glass and when expressed on the cell surface. This implies that the function of the mucin domain is to provide a stalk, extending the chemokine domain away from the endothelial cell surface to present it to flowing leukocytes.

We studied the effect of chronic exposure (6 weeks and 6 months) of mice to drinking (tap) water containing 1.76% (0.06 M) aluminum lactate on some cytochemical properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The plasmalemma-bound enzymatic activities of alkaline phosphatase (AP) and Ca(2+)-activated adenosine triphosphatase (Ca(2+)-ATPase) were studied at the ultrastructural level. Anionic sites were localized with cationized ferritin in a pre-embedding procedure and with cationic colloidal gold in a post-embedding procedure applied to brain samples embedded in Lowicryl K4M. Intravenously injected Evans blue and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used for evaluation of the functional state of the BBB. The results indicate that chronic exposure to aluminum does not noticeably affect barrier function of the endothelium of cerebral cortex blood microvessels. Focal leakage of larger than capillary microvessels (presumably arterioles and venules) was observed only in a few areas, such as the basal ganglia and amygdaloid nuclei. The localization of both enzymatic activities (AP and Ca(2+)-ATPase) in microvessels remained essentially unchanged. The localization of anionic sites was also unchanged except on the luminal surface of the endothelium of a few blood microvessels located in areas of the brain where leakage of the injected HRP was noted. In these vessels the injected HRP was often attached to the luminal surface of the endothelial cells, suggesting its increased stickiness. These data, compared with our previous observations on brain microvascular endothelial cells growing in vitro, indicate that cytotoxicity of aluminum is evidently less pronounced in the living organism, presumably due to action of detoxicating and regulatory mechanisms.

We combined immunocytochemistry and enzyme cytochemistry to localize two different proteins on the same ultrathin cryosection. In this method the immunocytochemical localization is visualized with colloidal gold probes and the enzyme cytochemical detection is achieved with cerium as the capture agent. The immunocytochemistry is conducted first so that any potential adverse effects of the enzyme cytochemical procedure will not alter the antibody binding properties of the cryosections.