Levamisole and inorganic pyrophosphate inhibit beta-glycerophosphate induced mineralization of bone formed in vitro.

The addition of the organic phosphate, beta-glycerophosphate, to the culture media of osteoid forming cells or tissues will induce formation of mineralized bone. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon are not clearly understood. In order to gain new understanding of organic phosphate induced mineralization of bone it was decided to attempt to inhibit this process in two fundamentally different ways. Firstly, the reversible inhibitor of alkaline phosphatase, Levamisole, was used to help define the role of alkaline phosphatase in mineralization in vitro. Secondly, inorganic pyrophosphate, a known inhibitor of hydroxyapatite (HA) formation was also used. It was hypothesized that inorganic pyrophosphate, in addition to its ability to block HA formation, might also interfere with organic phosphate access to alkaline phosphatase and thereby prevent mineralization. The data show that mineralization is blocked when alkaline phosphatase activity is inhibited by Levamisole prior to but not after osteoid maturation. Inorganic pyrophosphate blocks organic phosphate induced mineralization whether added before or after osteoid formation. Organic phosphate effects on alkaline phosphatase activity are reversed by the addition of inorganic pyrophosphate either before or after osteoid formation. These findings suggest a role for alkaline phosphatase in organic phosphate induced mineralization. The data show further that inorganic pyrophosphate may effect mineralization of bone not only by blocking apatite formation but possibly by modulating organic phosphate metabolism.