[Alkaline phosphatase activity of normal and transformed cultured human cells]

A study was made of the relationship between the activity of alkaline phosphatase and the proliferation of cultured human cells with different replicative potentials. It is shown that alkaline phosphatase plays a role as one of endogenic stimulators of cellular proliferation. The ageing of diploid cells is accompanied by a decrease in the enzyme activity. Maximum activity was observed during a period of logarithmic cell growth. Addition of placental alkaline phosphatase to the synchronized diploid cells stimulated DNA synthesis in the S-phase of the cell cycle. Heteroploid cells with a high growth rate possessed a 30-100 times higher alkaline phosphatase activity than in the diploid cells. Under certain conditions alkaline phosphatase may presumably function as a proteinkinase.