Invitrogen™ Placental Alkaline Phosphatase Monoclonal Antibody (5B1)

Placental Alkaline Phosphatase plays an important role in the regulation of specific inflammatory disease processes. There are at least four distinct but related alkaline phosphatases: intestinal, placental, placental-like, and liver/bone/kidney for this form of alkaline phosphatase have been well characterized. Placental Alkaline Phosphatase reacts with a membrane-bound isoenzyme (Regan and Nagao type) of Placental Alkaline Phosphatase (PLAP) occurring in the placenta during the 3rd trimester of gestation. Placental Alkaline Phosphatase is useful in the identification of testicular germ cell tumors. Unlike germ cell tumors, PLAP-positive somatic cell tumors uniformly express epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). A proposed function of Placental Alkaline Phosphatase is matrix mineralization; however, mice that lack a functional form of this enzyme show normal skeletal development. Placental Alkaline Phosphatase has been linked directly to hypophosphatasia, a disorder that is characterized by hypercalcemia and includes skeletal defects. The character of hypophosphatasia can vary, however, depending on the specific mutation since this determines age of onset and severity of symptoms.