Alkaline phosphatases as reporters of developmental and cancerous events.

Alkaline phosphatases comprise a family of isozymes whose expression is associated with important oncodevelopmental events. This presentation summarizes the relationship between alkaline phosphatase isozyme expression and specific developmental and disease processes, including malignancy. Several experimentally testable hypothesis are proposed that should help clarify the significance of these disease associations and the in vivo function of this interesting group of molecules.