Localization of Alkaline Phosphatase in Mammalian Bones

ALTHOUGH it is well established that alkaline phosphatase is present . Z J L in high concentrations in mammalian bones, the histological and cytological distribution of the enzyme in normal adult bones has not been adequately studied. Since the introduction of techniques for the histochemical localization of phosphatase (Gomori, 1939; Takamatsu, 1939) a number of papers have been published on the distribution of the enzyme in the developing bones and teeth of mammalian embryos (Gomori, 1943; Horowitz, 1942; Bevelander and Johnson, 1945; Engel and Furuta, 1942) and in the skeleton of fowl embryos (Moog, 1944). The relation of phosphatase to ectopic bone in bladder transplants (Gomori, 1943) and phosphatase in healing experimental fractures (Bourne, 1943) has also been studied. The reasons why the original Gomori technique was only reluctantly applied to adult bones are twofold: 1. The decalcifying fluids commonly used in histology destroy alkaline phosphatase.