Purification of bone alkaline phosphatase from human osteosarcoma.

Purification of human bone alkaline phosphatase, derived from human osteosarcoma tissue, has been carried to electrophoretic homogeneity. The purification procedure involved three major steps: (1) chromatography on hydroxylapatite; (2) ion exchange chromatography; and (3) gel filtration. The resultant purified enzyme is a glycoprotein, has a molecular weight of approximately 80,000 (consistent with previous reports for the bone isoenzyme), and is characteristically inhibited by modest heat (56 degrees C, 30 min) and L-homoarginine but not by L-phenylalanine. The isolation and purification procedure described can lead to the production of significant amounts of highly purified bone alkaline phosphatase. Purified ALP can be used for an analysis of minor structural differences that appear to exist between the bone, liver and kidney isoenzymes. Such information could lead to the development of a clinical diagnostic procedure specifically for bone alkaline phosphatase.